Coals of Juniper
by Liber amans puellae
Summary: It is sometimes the most commonplace events that can lead to a great change in the lives of many. KyouyaxOC
1. Chapter 1

I'm going by the anime time line since the manga is complete, just think of it as a new school year, although once again, Hunny and Mori don't graduate.

I do not own Ouran, characters, etc. (except Yuri). If I did own this, there would be 3 seasons by now.

All belong to Bisco Hatori.

* * *

"Beginnings are sudden, but also insidious. They creep up on you sideways, they keep to the shadows, they lurk unrecognized. Then, later, they spring."

~Margret Atwood~

* * *

The sound of birds chirping.

The process of coming to consciousness after the last thought being was that you couldn't fall asleep was a strange occurrence no matter how many times it

happened. It always brought one to wonder about sleep.

Such were the current disorganized thoughts of a certain person, a slim young man, as he rose out of his bed, back hunched and eyes barley opened. He

rubbed them, trying to get the sleepiness out of them, before giving his whole upper body a good stretch, both a bit anxious and satisfied at the cracking

noises his joints made. He looked at the small window across from his bed where the blinds shielded the room from the bright morning sunlight. After a few

minutes, he unsteadily got off the bed and headed towards the bathroom. He was arrested by the sight of a light blue blazer and black pants that hung on the

closet door. They were stared at, almost expecting to get a response by the looker in his sleep-groggy mind. However, no response was given. Not in the least

disappointed, he continued his journey to the bathroom in his room, bumping into the door frame and making the least sound possible as he shut the door.

* * *

Class A-1 of Ouran Academy bustled with noise as it neared time for classes to start. Three specific first years, a pair of redheaded twins and a seemingly

feminine boy with brown locks sat in their desks, either chatting with their neighbor or simply reviewing the previous lesson. All noises were gradually brought

to silence as the instructor walked in with a student behind him.

"Class, I like to introduce our new transfer student. I hope you will make him feel welcomed."

Interest and curiosity seem to cramp the room as students leaned forward to get a better look. Transfer students were not something that happened often in

Ouran. The young man seemed rather small, with his stature being lower than even Haruhi. His eyes were low-lidded, almost as if he was too lazy or tired to

lift them any higher. His hair was of medium length, reaching his upper back and was put into a low ponytail, causing the hair to cover his ears, and his

forehead to remain bare. His countenance held something of a mixture between lethargy and boredom. His uniform also seemed a bit big for him, as if it didn't

come in his size and he therefore had to wear what was given to him. This new student stepped forward.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Yuri Komastu. Please take care of me." he bowed. Silence was the response to this introduction given in a soft yet monotone

voice, which seemed to reinforce his expression as pure boredom. The instructor directed him to a seat in the far back of the class at the right-hand side by the

window. He walked forward, his eyes straight ahead, his gait somewhat stiff but quick for his height and length of legs. What cause most heads to turn in the

class was the square-like gym bag that he carried on his back like a book-bag. On reaching his seat, he slid it under his chair and only removed it once to get

his things.

* * *

As the day went on, murmuring went throughout the classroom about this new student. Though, throughout most of the classes he simply sat in his chair,

seemingly doodling in a notebook or put his head on the desk. As the first years went to their respective class, they passed a stream of second years who

were also heading to a similar destination. While walking, Yuri's eyes happened to come across a pair of violet ones in the stream of upperclassmen. His

eyebrow involuntarily went up at the brief glance of a foreigner in the school. However, it was merely a passing perplexity and was forgotten by the time he

had reached the door of the next class.

* * *

Lunch seem to be a happy time for the transfer student. As soon as the bell rang through the classroom, he was first one out of the class; to where no one

was really sure. He was nowhere to be found in the lunch room when the twins and the rest of the host club (including Haruhi, who the twins had practically

dragged out of the classroom on a whim) entered. Surprisingly, Tamaki was the one to bring up the topic.

"Where's that new student I saw in the hallway with you guys?" he asked the freshman trio as he looked around the luxurious dining hall.

The twins shrugged while Haruhi, giving up on getting back to the classroom, opened her box lunch and began to eat. "Not sure, he disappeared as soon as

the lunch bell rang." Tamaki seemed somewhat deflated at this news, but quickly got over it as it finally seemed to dawn on him that Haruhi was once again

eating in the lunch room. The remainder of the lunch period was spent trying to get Haruhi to try the school lunches, as well as partake in the girl's simple

lunch.

* * *

A span of about two weeks went by and the exams that once seemed far away were now just around the corner. Despite their approaching date, most

students did not seem particularly concerned. All except an effeminate scholarship student, who used before and after club hours to study. Unfortunately for

her, English and Math seemed to prove a bit difficult to comprehend fully by herself. As a result, Haruhi went to her instructors seeking assistance. They in

turn informed her of possibly getting a tutor, to which Haurhi had no qualms, only very cautious about the host club finding out she needed one. The next

day after the last class, the English instructor introduced Haruhi to her tutor. She turned, expecting to see the familiar face of Ayame when, to her surprise, her

eyes met the jade green colored eyes of the new transfer student, who had a book under his hand.

"Learning from a fellow class mate should be more helpful, since you have the same lessons" the teacher explained, as she seemed to gauge Haruhi's reaction.

"Also Komastu-san has spent a number of years in America and his English is superb."

Haruhi, getting over the initial shock, greeted her new tutor in her unaffected natural way. Yuri also bowed in turn and with that the teacher left them to

themselves. Yuri watched the instructor go out the door. He turned to Haruhi.

"_This classroom is going to be occupied in a few minutes, is there any place in particular you would like to study?_"

Haruhi blinked. She didn't think her lesson would begin right then and there. Nevertheless, she thought about her response, understanding Yuri well enough.

"_Um, yes there is one place..._"

Yuri held out a hand, indicating Haruhi should lead the way. They walked down the halls of the building side by side. Haruhi, still thinking they had started her

lesson, asked Yuri how many years he had been in America.

"About 6 or 7 roughly" he flipped over the bag on his back, unzipped and handed her a sheet. "You can give that to me tomorrow or later if you wish and from

there I'll help you where you need assistance. Also, from now on when we meet we will converse in English. I just figured I give you the heads up in Japanese

so there's no confusion. I want you to keep a journal that I'll check for grammar and spelling" He took the small notebook from under his arm and handed it to

her. "If you have questions, problems, or concerns let me know, while you're still allowed to talk in your native tongue."

Haruhi could only stare at this small boy in surprise. Not only because of how prepared and dry he seemed, but also by the fact this was the most she had ever

heard him speak since he entered Ouran. He looked over at her, and seeing her expression the corner of his lip twitched into what could have been a smirk.

"I apologize if I seem a bit...forward, but truth be told, I'm simply new to this..." he paused, wondering if "forward" had been the right word or if there was

anything else he should say. Haruhi however didn't give him the chance as she realized that he was probably just nervous. They had never talked in class; he

seemed like a very reserved person. She smiled and bowed her head a bit. "Please take care of me."

His eyes widened a bit at her and blinked twice before reluctantly giving a small smile of his own and bowing his head.

They eventually reached the third music room and Yuri opened the door for her. He surveyed the room with eyes and furrowed his brows as he saw that there

were other students in the room besides them.

"_Are you sure you want to study here? It seems it has already been taken_."

Before Haruhi could get a chance to respond, she was tackled and latched onto by a light brown-blue blur.

"Haru-chan! Haru-chan! Would you like to have some cake with me? We have peach sponge cake today!"

Yuri raised an eyebrow as he stared at the little child on Haruhi's back. '_What's a grade school student doing here? And in a high school uniform?_'

Honey-senpai turned to the door to see a small pallid-skinned boy giving him a questioning look. "Is this a friend of yours Haru-chan?"

"You could say that, Honey-senpai..." she said, remembering that she didn't want the host club to know she needed tutoring. She had come to the music room

only out of habit.

'Sempai?! Him?!' His eyebrow went up even higher as he and the little upperclassmen shared a few minutes of staring at one another. Hunny jumped down off

of his kohai's back and walked over to Yuri.

"What's your name?" He asked with the innocence of a kindergartner meeting someone new, eyes wide and mouth slightly agape.

"...Yuri...Komastu" He replied a bit warily, slightly leaning back from Hunny's curious gaze. The boy stared at him for awhile longer and then suddenly broke into

a smile before almost bouncing up to him and grabbing his hand. "Would like to have some cake with me Yu-chan?"

'Yu-chan?' Yuri looked up at Haruhi for an explanation only to see another person was currently talking to her. Also that she didn't look completely pleased with

the person either. Yuri's eyes widened as they caught with violet ones. 'The foreigner, eh?' He thought, tilting his head. Said foreigner came over.

"You must be Yuri Komastu." Tamaki took him by the other hand that wasn't captured in Hunny's grasp and gave it a firm shake. "Welcome to the host club!"

"Host...club?" Yuri focused on Haruhi, a bit worried now. He didn't know much about Host clubs, but the general idea he gathered was not altogether pleasant.

"It's not what you think" Haruhi held up both hands in front of her in defense, "it's just a place where the girls come have tea and talk."

Tamaki looked between Haruhi and the transfer student in perplexity. "Haruhi, why are you speaking in English?"

"Because she's being tutored again for exams"

Yuri turned to see a pale young man with glasses on a laptop. Sitting at the same table was an extremely tall man who looked like he could be in his twenties

instead of high school, drinking tea. He wondered which one of them had spoken.

"...How did you know that Kyouya-senpai?" Haruhi asked, a bit paranoid than normal, seeing as it had only been decided this week.

The one with the laptop and glasses turned to them and smirked. Seeing that smile reminded Yuri of a little paragraph he had glanced at in the psychology

book; that if a smile was symmetrical, it meant it wasn't genuine. There was also something about his tone that made Yuri uneasy, though he wasn't even

talking him.

"I have my sources."

Yuri raised his eyebrows, slightly disturbed. His eyes turned to see the foreigner practically screaming in Haruhi's face about "Daddy's daughter getting kicked

out of Ouran, etc..!" He saw Haurhi respond though he didn't hear and was even more confused as the blonde then retreated to a corner, poking at mysterious

mushrooms that appeared to have popped out of the marble floor.

"_Uh Haruhi, perhaps we could go somewhere else?_" he asked hoping dearly that there was, wondering if all the people in this "club" were so very...interesting.

"No! Haru-chan and Yu-chan can stay here and study!" Yuri had completely forgotten about the little senior attached to his left hand. "And you can have cake

too!" he exclaimed as an afterthought, forcefully leading Yuri to a table while Haruhi simply followed, seeing no point in leaving now since the host club already

knew. He brought them to an empty table and Mori, who had gotten up after seeing the first years being led in, brought two chairs for them to sit. Yuri

mumbled a thank you to the tall man, taking a good a look as he could of his face. Mori nodded before going back to his seat. He was still a bit wary about

staying here, but seeing that none of them seemed to mind and Haruhi was settled he decided not to dwell on it for right now.

He turned to Haruhi.

"So, where would you like to start?"

* * *

Ok, first chapter out of the way. There will be more to come I promise. By-the-by, any italics, underlining, font changes (if they are viewed) are either thoughts or other languages spoken/thought; just in case it wasn't clear in the chapter, the language was English. There will be a lot more in this story so just giving you the heads-up.

(EDIT as 5/8/14: Wah! The typos! The typos! How do you evade me?! I fixed some, but if I missed any let me know)

Reviews and Criticisms very much welcome; though go a bit easy on me as I am a delicate soul

Love and Peace.


	2. Chapter 2

Second chapter. Once again, **DO NOT OWN OHSHC.**

**I have proofread this thing twice. If there are any errors let me know.**

* * *

"I never made a mistake in my life; at least, never one that I couldn't explain away afterwards."

~Rudyard Kipling~

* * *

As the tutoring went on for a few weeks, Yuri found himself wondering sometimes if his fellow classmate even needed a tutor. Other than a few minor errors,

her writing was fine.

'_Perhaps I should focus more on pronunciation and speech?_' he thought idly in class while the math teacher rambled on about trigonometry. He gave a little

shrug and wrote some more details in terms of the study plan.

"Komatsu-san?" Yuri raised his head, annoyed at being interrupted in his train of thought. This showed in his face before he had time to control it and the

teacher, being the vengeful/spiteful spirit that he was, took note of it as he asked:

"How about you come solve this problem on the board?"

Yuri, his expression back to boredom, got up and calmly walked up to the board. Murmurings spread slightly through the room; the teacher silenced it

immediately with an all around strict look before handing Yuri the piece of chalk, taking some twisted satisfaction in seeing his hand tremble as he went to

write.

Yuri stared at the question for some minutes. Trying to keep a grin off his face, the teacher was about to ask if he needed help. However, the satisfaction

slowly died and turned to shock as the instructor watched him write out the step-by-step process. His handwriting was atrocious (which was probably

attributed to the trembling), but it was clear enough to show his answer, which, to the teacher's dismay, was correct.

"Well done Komastu-san." he said out of reflex, without any type of sincerity. He watched as Yuri returned to his seat.

_'Did you see that?' _

_'He's really smart?!'_

_'What you'd expect from a scholarship student?'_

Yuri plopped back down into his chair, rotating the passing mumbling he caught for a bit, before deeming them unimportant and going back to his writing.

* * *

"Nee Nee Yu-chan, would you like some cake?"

Yuri turned to the small senior, wondering when he was going to stop asking him that. He had been here for almost three weeks or so;

'_you think he would grow tired of asking me that by now._'

"Sure" Hunny-senpai's face glowed with delight to finally hear his pallid kouhai say yes and rushed off, excited to tell Takashi and get slices for them both. Yuri,

who was relieved to be left alone, now turned back to Haruhi.

"_Anything you're having trouble with?_"

"No-I mean, _no not really_..._"_

'_Still hasn't gotten used to the talking. Perhaps I should leave grammar alone for now..._'

"Oi, Yuri."

His eyebrow twitched. He asked himself if everyone in this club was that rude or they just thought because they were so rich they could call him whatever they

pleased.

'_Though I could care less, honestly..._' he raised his head to find the two orange headed twins looking down at him, one with a polite smile, the other doing a

very poor job of hiding his disdain.

"Yes" hoping his tone was at least somewhat polite, not willing to show what they said or did bothered him. He had some droll sense of pride that

appeared at such times that he wasn't even aware of it anymore.

"We need Haruhi to get commoner coffee" Hikaru interposed, not even bothering to grace him with his eye contact.

Yuri speculated if being an errand boy was part of Haruhi's hosting work here. Whether or not, it still irritated him how these guys seemed bent on using her as

a servant. This feeling of irritation fueled his response.

"And why, may I ask, can't you guys go get yourself? Haruhi is busy." It wasn't exactly what he had in mind, but he figured what he really wanted to say would

not be appropriate at this moment.

The identical faces became etched with surprise; they looked at each other as if the staring would help them understand the words just spoken to them.

Apparently they were not used to being refused.

"He's the only one who knows where it's sold." Kaoru said with a slightly apologetic smile, while Hikaru only glared.

'_He?_' he studied the features of the girl before it dawned on him that they meant to keep her gender a secret, '_though I hardly find there's any way to hide it_

_with that face._' The thought was a simple fact, nothing laced with admiration or affection, but a bit of humor due to the ludicrousness at how much effort they

expended to keep a simple "commoner" around them.

He stood up.

"I'll go" he said simply, convincing himself that he could use a breath of fresh air from all this tension. He couldn't understand why they insisted on being so

hostile if they intended to keep any type of secrecy. The feeling emanating from them just put up a neon sign saying:

"She is a girl. She is ours. Stay. Away."

Hikaru was about to object until Kaoru stepped in front of him and handed him the money with a wider smile. Yuri returned the smile out of reflex, thinking as

heading out of the door that if he had to be around them for the time, he should stick around the better tamed one of the twins.

When he finally reached outside, the white cloudiness that hovered over the morning's clear sky was beginning to turn into a gray afternoon. Yuri stopped by

the gate of Ouran Academy staring at them, wondering if he should go back to get his umbrella. However, remembering what was in that room that also

contained his bag, he started to walk.

The rain was a lot more pleasant than going back into that room.

* * *

The rain poured and fought vainly to get into the third music room through the transparent panes.

Haruhi glanced yet again at the window anxiously. Though she was hoping desperately there wouldn't be any thunder she also found herself worrying about

Yuri. Over the past few weeks, she had found it very relaxing, being around someone who wasn't extreme as the host club. Though she loved them all dearly it

was a nice change, having someone she could simply talk to without being harassed or constantly but inadvertently insulted. She regretted now not having

stopped him and giving him her umbrella. 'Maybe he got out of the rain in time?' The downpour increasing seemed to give an answer in squashing the slither of

hope she had left.

A few minutes later the door opened.

Everyone looked up.

Tamaki screamed and went to hide behind Kyouya who pushed up his glasses. Hunny-senpai took cover behind Mori-senpai and the twins took the loveseat

they were sitting on as shelter, peeking from behind it. Only Haruhi remained where she was, though startled, it wasn't long before she got up and hesitantly

went over to the soaking wet figure with a barely together brown paper bag cradled in their arms, wavy hair covering everything but the figure's mouth and

chin. By the time she was near enough the person dropped the pile with a loud clang on the nearest table, various jars of instant coffee toppling out of the

shreds of what was once a bag.

"Yuri?"

A slightly shivering hand reached up and pulled the black locks back, revealing a blue tinged nose to go with the trembling lips. In the eyes was a sharp glare.

"Are you alright? You're soaked!" Haruhi had grabbed his sleeve at the last statement. He now held himself, slouching a bit as he vainly tried to suppress a

shiver, the glare on his face only getting worse, though it wasn't directed at anyone.

'_Who knew rain could be so bone-chilling?'_

"Oh man" Kaoru whispered as he watched Haruhi guide the soaked first year into the next room. The others stayed behind, wondering if he was alright.

"You can change in here." Hauhi pulled back a curtain "I think we have a change of clothes around here somewhere."

"It's fine, just hand me my bag."

Haruhi was confused, but did as she was told going back into the next room to get his bag. She watched him rummaged through it and pause before

rummaging through it again, taking out various things, before sighing and seemingly cursing himself under his breath.

"I think I'll have to take you up on that offer after all." He said apologetically, giving a trembling smile. Haruhi went back to find Kaoru, who offered to take the

uniform and some towels to Yuri himself. Though he didn't particularly like the guy, it didn't mean he wanted this to happen to him.

'I feel kind of sorry for him.' he moved away the curtain, an apology half-prepared on his lips.

"Yuri, here I-" he started pushing the curtain.

…

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!"

The rest of the club was on their feet and heading for the door when Kaoru flew threw out and slammed it shut, his face red and breathing heavily.

"What happened?" Hikaru asked nervously, truly scared for his twin.

"He-she-he…"

"What?"

"H-h-h-he-she-he-It's a girl!"

"What? Yuri's girl? What do you mean?" Hikaru grabbed Kaoru by the shoulders, trying to calm him down. He shook him gently by them. "What are talking

about Kaoru?"

There was a knock.

They all focused their attention on the door behind Kaoru to see Yuri open the door in the Ouran girl's uniform which hung off of him like drapery. He rolled up

the sleeves to his elbows; the dress almost looked like a gown on his small frame. His thick hair was a mass of curly mess pushed out of his face, exposing

one ear. The socks and shoes he didn't even bother to put on, seeing as neither of them could fit.

"You-you!" Kaoru backed away slowly pointing an accusing finger all the while at Yuri, who stared at him blankly.

"Um, Yuri-kun, we know it may seem a bit ridiculous but Kaoru here claims that…well, he says that you're a girl."

"Is that so?" Yuri said casually his gaze fixed back on Kaoru who was hiding behind his brother, "And does he have any evidence to support that claim?"

Kaoru turned red before stuttering out some incomprehensible phrase.

"Kaoru, maybe you just saw something…that wasn't there." Hikaru suggested, thinking his twin was on verge of breaking down now.

"No! I-" he stopped, as if recollecting something "ID! Show us you're ID Yuri!" he nearly jumped up and down in his excitement of being able to prove he wasn't

crazy or delusional.

Yuri blinked and turned around into the next room. Everyone followed, Kaoru in the forefront and watched as Yuri rummaged through his bag for his ID case.

When he pulled it out Kaoru snatched out of his hand, opening it with the eagerness of a miser receiving wages with a bonus.

"Haha! see? This clearly and rightly proves that he is a-" he stopped; his eyes widened as he looked at the ID and then back at Yuri. Kyouya looked over

Kaoru's shoulder.

"Boy." Kyouya finished, staring at the blue colored card.

Kaoru's mouth dropped. "But-but, how-he?"

"Kaoru, I think it would be better if we went home today" Hikaru went over to place his hands on his twin's shoulder.

"He probably thought so because of this."

Everyone turned to see Yuri pull his upper body out of the loose yellow dress; underneath was a white tank top with lace trimming around the neck and straps

and a bow in the center. He gave a half shrug.

"I'm not exactly the most attentive person when I wake up. It's my sister's."

"See Kaoru? It was just a misunderstanding. Just because Yuri's short, skinny, and pale, doesn't mean he's a girl." Tamaki patted Kaoru on the shoulder with a

smile, completely missing Yuri's eye twitch. "We're sorry about this Yuri-kun."

"It's fine." He pulled back up the dress and went to the table for his bag and made his way to the exit. "Are you going home Yu-chan?" Hunny asked, looking

fairly sad.

"Yea, I figured I get home and get this stuff dry as soon as possible" he explained, lifting up the bag with his wet clothes. "I'll see you tomorrow." He nodded

his head to Haruhi, who waved in turned. He bowed farewell to the rest and opened the door and shut it as softly as he could, speed walking down the

hallway, hoping anxiously not to run in any of the host club's "guest". He went through the garden, getting off campus through a dented part of the gate

covered in bushes. He sighed in relief as he looked up from his umbrella to the building where the third music room resided.

A smirk, sarcastic and amused, formed on his lips.

* * *

OK.

Things will now (hopefully) pick up in the third chapter. By-the-by, Yuri thinks in English, the reason his thoughts are underlined in case any one was wondering.

EDIT (4/20/14): I put up a link for a drawing of Yuri on my profile for anyone that's interested


	3. Chapter 3

**DO NOT OWN. Can't stress that enough.**

* * *

"I may be surprised. But I don't think I will be."  
~Andrew Strauss~

* * *

Yuri huffed and wheezed, doubled over and rested his hands on his knees, wondering what he had done to deserve this.

'_Are they possessed or what?_'

Hearing footsteps, he scurried behind a column and tried to make himself as thin as possible, tiptoeing and holding his breath. The footsteps got closer.

"Are you sure you saw him run this way?" Hikaru looked around at his twin who was dallying behind to catch his breath after laughing so hard.

"Definitely. Have you seen him run so fast?"

"I don't think we've ever seen him run."

They both began to laugh, going at a jog now. Yuri let out the breath he was holding. Ever since the incident two weeks ago the twins became bent on

pranking the new student. His tutoring sessions with Haruhi had ended already so he didn't understand why they were harassing him now. Though it seem to

only escalate to extremes after Haruhi had asked him to continue studying with her yesterday.

'_Though they weren't there so how would they know?_" he peeked around the column before heading in the direction the twins just came from, looking back

multiple times. It was a free study period, the teacher had left the classroom; Yuri was determined now to get his things and get the blazes off the campus

before the identical little devils spotted or even found him.

He decided to take a route that was near the second year's classrooms to avoid running into them in case they came back. He had given up running long ago,

but was still wheezing. He stopped and leaned on a wall, sinking down to the ground.

'_Thank God I remembered to put it in here…_' he took out a lavender covered inhaler, shaking it vigorously before plugging his nose and taking his dose. He stared

at quizzically, shaking it again.

"_Crap, the thing's nearly empty too_."

"Are you ok?"

Yuri jumped, fearing the twins had found him until his gaze settled on violet eyes with wisps of blonde hair in front of them.

"Yuri-kun? What are you doing here?" Tamaki held out a hand to him. He took it, though his legs were still shaking and he didn't want to get up at all.

"Twins. Pranks." He said between huffs, wondering what was taking his medication so long to kick in.

Tamaki caught sight of the inhaler Yuri was trying to hide in his small fist.

"You have asthma? Have the twins been making you run all this time?! Are you alright?!" Tamaki placed his hand on his shoulders, pressing him against the

wall, his face laced with concern. Yuri held up his hand in defense from the onslaught of questions.

"I-I-I'm fine, it's fine. I'll be alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Y-yes, I am."

"Tamaki, what are you doing?"

They both turned to see Kyouya staring at them with his eyebrow raised and folder in his hand. His gaze focused on the underclassmen.

"What are you doing here?"

"Yuri-kun's being tortured by the unscrupulous twins mommy; we have to do something!"

'_Mommy?_'

The look that passed over Kyouya's face clearly stated he wanted nothing to do with the situation. Yuri moved Tamaki's hand away.

"It's fine, I'm just going to go back to the classroom. The teacher should be there by now." He added the last part as he saw Tamaki about to respond, he

figured it'd better not tell them he had no intention of staying around any longer. He bowed to them both, before pace walking to the classroom. Despite his

determination, he somehow found himself staying; Haruhi asking if they could study a bit before club. He was beginning to realize a little now why the others

were so bent on having her around.

* * *

"_And the tree was happy. The End_" Yuri closed the book with a small thoughtful smile. He now observed his listener who, to his surprise, was wiping away a

tear.

"I guess I can take that to mean you like it then?"

Haruhi smiled briefly. "I didn't expect to be so sad."

"I thought maybe you would think it ridiculous, reading a children's book."

She shook her head.

"Not at all"

A sniff echoed from behind them made Haruhi and Yuri turn to see the second years at a table identical to their own near a window.

"That was beautiful." Tamaki murmured between sniffles, wiping his flowing eyes with his handkerchief.

"Tamaki, you're getting tears on the table." Kyouya commented with slight exasperation, moving his laptop away from the traveling little creek.

"I'm sorry Kyouya, it's just" he blew his nose loudly "have you ever heard a more beautiful little tale?"

"Yes, I have. Though the story is thought provoking, I see no need for all these tears."

"No need!?" Tamaki stood up abruptly, knocking down his chair. "How can you not? The poor tree…" he broke out into fresh sobs.

Haruhi and Yura joined Kyouya in shaking their heads at Tamaki's dramatic sorrows. Yura had attempted to read as softly as possible, thinking he would be

bothering them; he didn't expect the echo effect in the room to carry sound so far over that they would have actually listened to the whole thing. Tamaki got up

and went over to the first years.

"Yuri-kun, do you mind if I borrow the book?" he asked, still sniffling though the tears had subsided.

"Sure" he said a bit hesitant as he handed the thin light green book to him. Tamaki took it from him, looking at the front before mumbling "The Giving Tree

indeed…" crying once again, hugging the book to his chest.

Yuri rolled his eyes.

He opened the book to flip through it but stopped at the first page to see a signature.

"Who's Hirohito, Yuri-kun?"

Yuri looked up in surprise. He put his head back down, scratching his hair.

"…He's my uncle. He gave it to me as a birthday present when I was little." He almost whispered, embarrassment transforming into a reminiscent smile.

Tamaki blinked in wonder at his warm expression. "A-are you sure you want to lend this to me?"

Yuri faced the blonde again, a teasing smile replacing his previous one, though Tamaki mistook it for something else.

"I trust you'll take as much care of it as if it were your own precious valuable."

Tamaki's eyes shone, he straightened up and saluted him, book tucked under one arm, "I'll protect it with my life!" he about faced and marched off.

Haruhi sighed and hid her face in both her hands, while Yuri turned and giggled softly.

"How about we move to the next room? I believe your "guests" will be arriving soon." He rose and Haruhi followed the suit. Tamaki came back to the table to

find it empty. Just as he discerned them and was about to call out, something blue on the chair near him caught his eye and he picked it up. It was a blue book,

the word 'SKETCHBOOK' printed on a white square with a forest doodle drawn beneath all in blue ink. Curious, he opened the book and his eyes widened to

see a figure of a young man with black hair and blue eyes with a slim muscular build. He stood in the middle of the page clad in nothing but black and purple

swim trunks, staring at him with a phlegmatic expression.

"Yuri-kun is this yours?" he called out absently, flipping to the next page.

Yuri and Haruhi, who had by now reached the door, turned at the sound of Tamaki's voice. Seeing his sketchbook in the blonde's hands, Yuri immediately ran

back.

"Yes it is" he said quickly, his hand outstretched before reaching Tamaki, ready to snatch the book away. However, Tamaki looking up in time to see Yuri's

hand, lifted the sketchbook high, far out of his exasperated underclassman's reach. He tried jumping to get closer.

"It's mine" jump "senpai" jump "now" jump "give it" jump "back!"

"Not until you tell me who this is." Tamaki opened the book while he still held it high to swim suit guy, lowering it as Yuri moved away. He blushed a bit, giving

Tamaki an annoyed and guarded stare.

"He's from a show."

"An anime?" Tamaki turned the book toward him, studying the drawing once again. "What's it called?"

Yuri heaved a long sigh.

"Free"

* * *

'_Kyaaaaaaaaaaaa! It's Makoto!'_

'_Oh Hunny-senpai makes such a cute Nagisa!'_

'_The twins are Gou and Rin!'_

'_Don't you mean "Kou" and Rin' _

An eruption of giggles ensued.

'_Kaoru looks so good in a skirt!"_

All screams, gushing, and squeals didn't seem to be ending anytime soon. Or at least that's how it seemed to Yuri. '_Memo to me: NEVER leave my _

_sketchbook unattended in the third music room.__' _He thought dully as he watched Tamaki do another round of the butterfly stroke across the Olympic sized indoor

pool. Almost every girl, his guests or not, gushed or fainted on the spot at the sight of him getting out of the water, pulling the goggles of his face and

replacing them with red framed glasses. Things only seemed to get worse when Kyouya surfaced, shaking his hair out of his face before pushing the rest back

with his hand, climbing out of the pool as well.

The pool was unnecessarily huge in Yuri's opinion, he also didn't understand why the girl's wore their swimsuits too when they weren't even going into the

water. '_Not that it's the most horrible thing in the world..._' he looked over at the trio of girls in bikinis that were chatting with Haruhi under an umbrella. The host

girl currently had a medium-length brown wig on her head, wearing a white blouse and jeans with an over-sized light green sweater and white shoes. Yuri had

a feeling that she might have actually like this cosplay; she didn't say word to the twins when they handed her the outfit.

His eyes drifted and caught sight of two girls talking as they headed towards the juice bar. Seeing no glasses in their hands, he quickly bent down behind the

counter and wrapped his arms around his knees.

"Aw, Yuri-kun's not here."

"We thought we would finally get to talk to him too."

He could practically hear the pouting from the two, but made no movements until he was sure they were gone. He dropped his head unto his knees, glad to

have averted another danger for the fourth time today.

"You do realize you can't hide down here every time they come over to talk, some of them might actually want drinks."

He grounded his teeth a bit before raising his head to the sight of a damp Kyouya, a towel around his neck.

"I'll take my chances" was his only response as Kyouya went around to the customer's side of the stand, leaning on it.

"Can I help you?" he asked reluctantly, seeing the dark haired second year wasn't going away. Kyouya smirked.

"A drink. Something not too sweet."

His amusement seem to increase as Yuri went about gathering various concentrates, a shaker, and a glass before bending down to pick a notepad. Studying it

with intense concentration for some minutes, mumbling to himself, he eventually put it away and went about putting together what he had read, working like a

robot from an old cartoon. He turned to Kyouya with the shaker, placed the empty glass on the counter, poured out his drink, put a little umbrella, straw, and

placed it quietly in front of him with a coaster and a napkin. He turned around to clean the utensils.

"You don't seem too happy with the results of our planning. The idea was initially yours."

"It was Tamaki-senpai's idea, not mine. The notion wouldn't have entered his head if he hadn't gone browsing through my sketchbook."

Kyouya gave a slight huff at Yuri's controlled tone and headed back towards the pool, only having taken a sip, which further irked Yuri.

* * *

"Couldn't you have let tono seen something with twins?" Kaoru asked, practically whining.

"It wasn't my intention for him to see anything at all."

"Yeah, beside you look really cute Kaoru." Hikaru smiled, tugging at Kaoru's skirt.

Kaoru slapped his hand away. "But why do I have to be the girl?"

"Gou is the younger one of the Matsuoka siblings."

"See? Younger, older" Hikaru said emphatically, pointing to Kaoru and then himself. Kaoru glared at him, turned away with feminine grace mixed with

indignation and walked off, ignoring his brother as he called out to him to wait. Yuri chuckled quietly behind his hand.

* * *

'_Finally, it's over._' Yuri rested his head on the counter. With the guests gone, the club was straightening out the pool. Well, as best as a group of rich guys and

one girl could. Yuri, who had moved to the customer side and climbed on a stool, stifled a yawn in his throat, resting his head on the counter. He was faltering

between wake and doze when two pairs of hands roughly grabbed him by the arms and sides and carried him off. His eyes shot open.

"Huh? Hey!" he saw he was being taking toward the pool.

"Wait! Stop you idiots!"

"Ah! Hika-chan, Kao-chan! Don't!" Hunny-senpai screamed from the opposite end of the pool. However, it was too late as the twins leaned back to get

leverage before launching Yuri into the pool.

"Yu-chan can't swim!"

"WHAT!?"

Mori-senpai dived in when Yuri hit the water; he reached where the splashing subsided took a deep breath before going under.

"How we were we supposed to know he couldn't swim?"

Mori-senpai surfaced a minute later with a still Yuri in his arms. He got unto the pool's edge where the twins and the others had gathered; he laid the limp body

on floor and began performing CPR. On the third attempt to breathe air into his lungs, the limp form heaved and Yuri coughed up what water he had inhaled.

* * *

Yuri removed his wet clothes, glaring at the inside of his own eyelids.

'_I hate the smell of chlorine._' He grimaced at his soaked clothes, wondering if he should removed his underwear as well. "I'll kill them." He mumbled, taking off

his undershirt.

"So you are a girl."

Yuri froze before turning around abruptly to see Kyouya holding the curtains open, towels in hands. She quickly put back down her wet shirt. He walked further

in, the amused smirk returning on his lip.

She gave him a suspicious look.

"…You knew didn't you?"

"I had my suspicions. I merely required concrete evidence." He handed her the towels. She took one and put it around her waist before taking off the wet shirt,

revealing a red stuck-on camisole, surprising him a bit. She put one around her shoulders and took the last one and dried her face.

"You're welcome."

His smirk grew wider.

"I believe you should inform the others as well."

Yuri grimaced.

"How about not telling them and letting this fact stay between us, hmm?" Kyouya raised an eyebrow at her.

"And how long do you think you can keep it a secret with the twins thinking you're a boy?"

"…Fine."

* * *

"I KNEW IT!" Kaoru screamed jumping up two feet in the air. Everyone minus Kyouya and Yuri took a step away from him.

Yuri waved dismissively. "Yeah, yeah, you were right. The end. Can I go home now?"she asked, turning to Kyouya.

"I thought you said weren't a girl Yuri-kun, I mean Yuri-chan."

"I neither confirmed or denied." She said flatly, not looking at Tamaki but Haruhi, who slightly smiled.

"B-but your I.D." Hikaru stammered, thoroughly confused now.

All of them looked at her now, even Kyouya, curious as to how she managed to convince the school she was male.

She smiled, crossing her arms in the puffy yellow dress (they managed to get one closer to her size) and only said:

"That's for me to know and you not to find out anytime soon."

* * *

OK! So whoever guessed Yuri was a girl in chapter 2, you were right. Congratulations! If there are any errors let me know; it is 5:35 a.m. as I type this so

it would be understandable. Also now that it's out that she's a girl, her thoughts will not be shown to be in English anymore, she'll think in 'Japanese' like

everyone else.

Honestly, she thinks too much (kidding).

Chapter 4 on its way!

Love and Peace.


	4. Chapter 4

I decided to post this chapter early, since I have extra time. I'll see if I can get another one up on Saturday night as well, but I'm not making any guarantees.

Once again (and for the last time since we all know) **Do not own**** OHSHC.**

* * *

"Every solution to every problem is simple. It's the distance between the two where the mystery lies."

~Derek Landy~

* * *

This was the fourth time checking her name through school files.

Nothing.

Kyouya sat in his room staring at his laptop screen presenting the same general information about the small girl it had been doing for the past hour. He

couldn't understand for the life of it why there was nothing else about her, but her name, birthday (which he surmised was false also seeing as she was lying

about her gender), Ouran ID number, gender and a picture of her in a commoner boy's middle school uniform.

It didn't even have her address, and he was sure the school hadn't accepted the girl without seeing her medical records. So why was this it?

'Unless she requested something…'

Couldn't be.

She was a commoner; she didn't have that kind of influence or connections. Kyouya continued to rack his brain as to why this girl was such a mystery. He had

learned at an early age that knowledge was power. It was how he always seemed one step ahead of everybody. But here was a girl, of simple background,

where he could find no information on other than what she had told them. So for probably the first time, he was interacting with someone he knew next to

nothing about.

It was a new feeling to him.

He closed his laptop in frustration, taking off his glasses and rubbing the bridge of his nose. Deciding to go to bed early for once, he got up and headed to the

second floor of his room.

* * *

"Physical exams? You mean those things where nurses check your height and weight and stuff?"

"Yeah, something along those line." Haruhi laughed a bit at Yuri's extremely condensed definition.

They were at Haruhi's place. Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai had come over: Mori to tutor Yuri in History, which she was on the borderline of failing (failure to her

was a 'C') and Hunny just coming over to have cake with the two female first years.

She raised an eyebrow at Haruhi.

"Can't you skip that?"

Haruhi shook her head.

"…what did you do last time?"

"Kyouya-senpai managed to get me into the special male section for the exam." She replied evasively, deciding not to tell Yuri all the chaos that went on

before.

"Are you worried Yu-chan?" Hunny-senpai placed a plate of cake next to her. She stared at the slice for a while, having never seen red cake in her life.

"Not really…" she said slowly, staring and turning the plate at all different angles. "Hunny-senpai, what kind of cake is this?"

Hunny-senpai blinked in surprise. "Red velvet cake"

'Right.'

She took a bite and her eyes widened and cheeks glowed pink for a moment.

'It's…delicious. Who knew red colored cake would taste so good.' She finished the slice in two mouthfuls; Hunny-senpai, Haruhi and Mori-senpai stared at her in

amazement as she ate. She held out the plate to Hunny-senpai, crumbs on her face.

"Can I have another slice?"

The little senior nodded silently as he went to go get another slice of cake; a smile took over eventually, glad to have finally found a dessert Yuri liked so much.

"Yuri."

Yuri turned and held her breath as the tall figure brought his face very close to hers. He wiped the crumbs off the side of her mouth and cheek with a napkin.

"You have crumbs on your face."

"T-thank you." Her cheeks dusted pink. It was the first time she heard Mori-senpai talk. Yuri couldn't believe how deep his voice was, it was so…sonorous.

'Lucky is the woman who marries this guy.' She watched him sit back down as Hunny-senpai returned.

"So what are you going to do about the physical exams?" Haruhi asked taking the slice the third year had gotten for her as well.

"Don't worry, I have it covered."

* * *

"What does she mean she has it covered?" The twins whispered sharply in unison leaning over Haruhi while they were heading towards the physical exam

room.

Haruhi shrugged. "That's what she told me."

The twins looked at one another.

"Where is she?"

"She left earlier, not sure where she went."

As they entered the room, Haruhi could only tense and slightly hunch over in surprise and exasperation at the long line of doctors and nurses greeting them.

She was not going to get use to this stuff anytime soon.

"Is something wrong Haruhi?"

"Nothing at all Kyouya-senpai…" she turned her head in the opposite direction, her facial expression nothing but pure apathy. Not very nice things were going

through her head.

'KYYYYYAAAAAAAAAAAAA!'

Haurhi cringed, wondering to this day what these girls saw in the twin's act.

"Ah, Yuri" Haruhi mumbled as she spotted her cross-dressing friend being led behind a curtain for chest measurements.

"Haruhi, don't you have your own examination to complete?" Kyouya asked following her gaze, curious to see how Yuri planned to handle this

situation.

Haruhi left and the twins, done wooing the girls, came over to Kyouya-senpai who had caught sight of Yuri.

"You don't think she's going to come out of there shirtless do you?"

Kyouya and Kaoru stared at Hikaru.

"What? She's as flat as board! She could actually get away with it."

Kaoru and Kyouya were silent. From what they had seen, not only was she flat-chested, but she had the body of a fifth year elementary school student, boy or

girl.

If it wasn't for the fact he had seen her lower half clad only in underwear, Kyouya would have had doubts himself about determining her gender. He coughed

as the image, much to his dismay, flitted across his mind.

"Komatsu-sama, are you ready?"

"Yes, I am."

The girls that had gathered leaned in, pure anticipation thickening the air in the room; even the twins leaned forward a bit. Kyouya crossed his arms.

The curtains moved to the side.

The twins' mouth dropped, a blush suffused their face before they covered their eyes.

Kyouya raised an eyebrow.

Standing in a buttoned down school shirt with nothing underneath, Yuri went over to the nurse who had the tape measure in her hand, removing the shirt

completely.

The girls were in silent awe at the lean slim build of the transfer student, the smooth pale plane of 'his' chest.

'He's so cute…'

While the twins were fighting the urge to peek, Kyouya was studying Yuri. No matter how he looked at it…something just didn't seem right.

His peripheral vision caught something moving under the curtain Yuri had come out of. He walked over and went through the side that didn't have girls nearby.

The twins, feeling him pass by them, uncovered their eyes and followed him. He pushed the curtains back quietly and his eyes widened a bit. The twins finally

caught up and peeked under his arm.

"…Yuri-chan?"

Sitting on one of the chairs, sat what appeared to be Yuri in a white t-shirt, the school pants and black flats, swinging her legs and twirling a lollipop in her

mouth. This look-a-alike turned its brown eyes toward the sound of the twin's voices and lifted up a hand in greeting.

"Hey Hikaru, Kaoru, Kyouya-senpai, did you guys finish your examinations? Hold up, what is Kyouya-senpai doing here?" she got up and walked over to them,

putting the lollipop back in her mouth.

"Yuri-chan? But if you're here then who-?"

The question was interrupted by the other Yuri coming back into the changing area, holding his shirt over his shoulder, though his face was one of complete

discomfort.

"I feel like they were trying to undress me with their eyes." the male Yuri murmured. He stopped in his tracks to see four people where he had left only one.

"Who are-?"

"Don't worry Yuki, these are the guys I was telling you about. Well, some of them anyway." She gestured him to come closer, Yuki advanced and rested his arm

on Yuri's shoulder.

"Hikaru, Kaoru, senpai, this is my twin brother, Yuki. Yuki, Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachinn and Kyouya Ootori; the other four are off somewhere else."

"Nice to meet you all." Yuki bowed to them, putting on the green shirt Yuri handed to him when he rose. They bowed their heads and stared at the mirror

images in front of them as Yuki gave Yuri her school shirt back and they switched shoes.

Their faces were identical, though Yuri was slightly slimmer, her nails longer, but the height and expressions and even mannerisms were so similar that it even

freaked out the twins.

Yuri gave Yuki a white coat off the chair. Yuki, in turn, gave his sister the rubber band in his hair. The trio's eyes widened to see them take out and replace their

contacts in each other's eyes. Kyouya's surprise only grew to see a peek of the true color of Yura's eyes from where he was. He felt he had to be mistaken

though, there was no way eyes could be that color.

"Thanks Yuki"

"No problem my little sister." He grabbed her shoulder and pointed to his mouth. Her face scrunched up in a droll way.

"Don't you have anymore?" it was almost a whine mixed with a bit of disappointment.

"Yura" Yuki warned in a light tone, gesturing with his hand.

Yura huffed a bit, taking the lollipop out of her mouth. Yuki took it from her with playfulness, putting it in his own mouth before taking out an unwrapped one

from his pocket and placed it in her interior blazer pocket, patting the outside.

"Don't eat it in class, alright?" he touched her chin with the tip of her finger.

She nodded.

Yuki, with a wide smile, turned to the twins and Kyouya and bowed again before putting on round rimless glasses and walking the way they had came. They

could only watch the older twin go, though they had questions, all of them seem gone at the moment.

"Say hi to Haruhi-chan and the others for me Yura." And with a wave he disappeared.

* * *

"So how did it go?" Hunny-senpai asked as he saw Yura and the others. The seniors and Tamaki had waited until Haruhi had finished her examination, she was

just coming out when they made it to the room.

"Hunny-senpai, you'll never guess what she did!" the twins went up to him. He titled his head.

"Did she have her brother Yu-kun come and do the examination for her?"

They face faulted.

"You knew she had a brother?!"

"Yuri-chan has a brother?"

"Yeah, Takashi and Haru-chan know too."

The twins, Kyouya and Tamaki turned to look at Haruhi.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" screamed the idiot trio (Tamaki and the twins).

Haruhi shrugged as she had seen Yura do once.

"You never asked."

* * *

They headed back to the club room for a meeting. While walking, Hikaru noticed that Kaoru had steadily grown pensive and quiet. When they reached the club

room doors, Kaoru blurted out absently: "Hey Yuri-chan?"

Yura, who had her hand on the door, turned to look at him.

"Why did your brother call you Yura?"

Kyouya and Hikaru blinked as it dawned on them that Kaoru was right and stared at the little girl whose eye twitched before her face scrunched into another

queer expression; somewhere between annoyance, guilt, and regret at being caught.

"…Because that's my name…"

Silence pervaded the group.

Yura scratched the back of her head, looking up.

"You lied about your name too?!"

"More like there was a typo I made no effort to correct?" she mumbled, trying vainly to look convincing.

"Yura-chan."

She raised her head and focused her attention on Kyouya.

"Did you give the school _any_ accurate information?" at this rate he had to ask; the mysteriousness shrouding around this girl was beginning to seriously gnaw

at his ego, not to mention it was highly irritating.

"…My birthday?" she said sheepishly.

Everyone (except Kyouya, Mori-senpai, and Haurhi who only shook their heads) dropped their heads into the hands.

* * *

Yura opened the front door of her house to the sound of shuffling feet. She took off her shoes and slowly walked up the stairs, listening to the movement

coming from the half open door next to her room. She opened it further to find her brother packing clothes in a duffle bag. He jumped and twisted around

precipitously at the sound of the creaking door.

"You're leaving?"

"Yeah, I figured you'd be home earlier, but if I don't leave now I won't make in time for afternoon classes tomorrow."

"Oh."

Yuki smiled sadly at his sister's downcast eyes, despite her success in attempting to sound unaffected. He put a hand to the round chin and raised her head

and sighed before giving her a bear hug.

"If only the dorm arrangements had gone as planned; we could be at the same school in Kyoto right now without all this fuss." He said quietly with regret,

patting his sister's back. She only nodded.

He moved away, hands on both her shoulders and gave a brighter smile.

"I'll be home for summer vacation alright?"

"Mm."

His smile widened. He kissed her forehead, gauging her reaction, before kissing both her cheeks, involuntarily bringing a small smile to her lips. She followed

him downstairs and to the door.

"God speed, Yuki."

He turn his head to give a sideways smile, closing the door rather loudly.

She gave a heaving sigh, restraint gone as a bitter smile crossed her face.

"And here I was planning to cook something for once." She mumbled in the darkness. She went into the kitchen and grabbed a pack of pocky and some bottled

water before heading upstairs to her room.

* * *

Well. Chapter 4 over and done. Yes, I was planning to change her name from the get-go. For some reason I just don't like 'Yuri', but it was a uni-sexual name so I figured I let her use it for school purposes. Yuki is...you'll just have to keep reading to find out. Any questions or misunderstandings, review and let me know.

Love and Peace.


	5. Chapter 5

This chapter is longer than the others so far (I think they might be going that way for a while from now on) but I did get to post it. Yay me. Any typos, please let me know.

* * *

"Friendship is the hardest thing in the world to explain. It's not something you learn in school. But if you haven't learned the meaning of friendship, you really haven't learned anything."

~ Muhammad Ali~

* * *

'_In einem dächlein helle da schoß in froher eil, die launische forelle vorüber wie ein feil. __Ich stan an dem gestade und sah in süßer ru de muntern fischleins bade im klaren bächlen zu…_'

It was the third time Yura sung the phrase in her head as she placed the now filled teacup in front of one the twins' customers. At least she believed the girl

was one of the twins' customers. After Hunny-senpai and Mori-senpai's table, she kinda lost track.

She had been in middle of watching of Haruhi complete an exercise she had given her when Kyouya came up to them, informing Haruhi it was time for the guest

to arrive.

"Now?" Haruhi couldn't keep the disappointment out her voice.

"Yes now, the tea must be prepared and ready to be served in time for their arrival."

"I'll do it."

Kyouya eyes rested on the black haired girl.

"Haruhi also had to serve them as they get settled."

Yura gulped. Her curt response had been a reflex more than anything, but she felt her heart sink at the thought of serving tea to the host club's guest. She

already avoided any prolonged interaction with them, why throw herself under the bus now? She looked over at Haruhi, whose face was pure surprise and

shining with appreciation.

Well, it was only this once.

So as she served the tables, she figured singing "The Trout" by Schubert in its native tongue would help her calm down and not make her hands tremble. She

messed up most of the pronunciation and had no real clue what she saying, but she found it actually working.

She had now reached Tamaki's table (and thankfully the last). Thinking she was home free, she sped up her serving a bit more so that she nearly dropped the

teacup she was placing on the table when a slim, long, pale hand reached out and lightly rested on her own.

For the second time today she made eye contact with a customer.

And she wanted to scream.

"You must be the new transfer student I've heard so much about." Yura took in the long auburn hair, delicate face, hazel eyes, and honey-sickle voice before

focusing on forming a response.

She nodded.

The pink lips smiled and Yura wanted to do anything but be there when she felt a thumb gently rub her palm.

'What the blazes does this chick want?'

"Do you take guest?"

Yura realized now how silly she must look; wide eye staring into the girl's face. So she willed herself to relax and said with a partly indifferent air: "No, I do

not."

The indifference seem to disconcert the beautiful vixen because her eyes widened and she withdrew her hand, staring at Yura in surprise. The girl took that

opportunity to return to the rolling tray table and tried not to look like she was panicking as she made her way to the doors. When she finally got through

the doors into the safety of the next room, she sagged in mental exhaustion, putting the tea things in the sink and went over to Haruhi, who was waiting for

her to come back to check her work.

"Never. Again."

* * *

The spring weather began to warm and finals began to approach for the students of Ouran. Unfortunately, Yura had been absent for two weeks, the teacher

announcing after the first two days that he had fallen ill. Naturally, the host club wanted to go and check on their newest friend, but seeing as none of them

knew where she lived, they had to content themselves with a phone call from her brother, who had her cell phone. He informed them that she was in the

hospital after having come down with pneumonia. Though worried, the host club went about their days as usual, Haruhi realizing then how much she came to

like the girl for company and study.

Yura returned a week before finals looking haggard and paler but better.

"I don't understand this..." she mumbled to herself as she hung over the practice test Mori-senpai had given her that morning. Haruhi sat next to her, working

out the procedure and solution for a math problem Yura had given her. They were in the library after club hours and though she was grateful, Yura never

thought she find herself associating annoyance with the silent senior.

"Ugh! I give up Mori-senpai, I don't know this. I don't remember any of this."

Mori-senpai nodded before putting her notes he had taken back in front of her. She read through before letting her drop on the table without restraint, taking

satisfaction in the thump her head made against the wooden surface.

"I hate history." She announced with her head still down. She raised it to look at Mori.

"No offense."

Mori nodded in understanding.

"Yura, is this the answer?"

She took a look at Haruhi's working.

"No, you have to multiply the variable here before dividing it." She pointed before taking a fresh piece of paper and showing Haruhi. The brown hair girl's mouth

dropped as Yura effortlessly wrote the entire procedure in long hand and the answer.

She checked the textbook.

It was right.

"I think we both need more time."

"_Ain't that the truth?_" Yura rested her cheek on her hand. Recollecting something, she sat up, smiling a little. "How about you come over to my place this

weekend? We can pull an all nighter."

Haruhi smiled at the idea. "Alright."

"Can you and Hunny-senpai come too?" she asked quietly, turning to Mori. He nodded.

"Good" Yura took out a necklace from under her shirt shaped like a key that was actually pocket watch and checked the time. She took a sheet of paper and

wrote out something twice before creasing the leaf and tearing it in half, handing one side to each of them.

"Is around 12 alright for you guys?" she suggested. Though just thought of waking up for a specific time on a weekend made her want to cry and wish the

school never existed, but she knew it had to be done; otherwise she could just kiss getting second place in the class good-bye. That and it meant she had to wake

up earlier, as it was cleaning day for her.

She cringed inwardly.

"Sure."

"Perfect" Yura rose, putting the square bag on her back. "I'll see you guys."

* * *

Yura coughed loudly for the umpteenth time that day. She could feel the rawness of her throat with each intake of breath, but she refused to acknowledge it.

She just couldn't bring herself to stop spraying bleach in the bathrooms until it had touched every nook and cranny of the place in some way.

Though mixing it with the bathroom cleaner was probably going a little over board.

She put away the last dry dish and got down off the stool to begin sweeping when the doorbell pealed throughout the house.

"Must be them. Guess I took longer than I thought cleaning the bathrooms earlier.' She glanced at the clock on the stove as she went to go answer the door.

"Hey Haru-"her face dropped at the sight before her.

'Why am I even surprised?' she thought cynically as she saw the four extra people behind Haruhi and in front of the third years. Haurhi's face clearly expressed

the extra guests were not her doing. She grabbed the brunette by the arm, momentarily forgetting about Hunny and Mori, and pulled her into the house,

narrowing her eyes at the guys, her hand ever ready on the door.

"I don't recall inviting any of you guys over."

"You invited us, Yu-chan."

She focused her attention on Hunny. "You and Mori-senpai. Not them." She pointed emphatically to the twins, Kyouya, and Tamaki.

"Aw, come on Yura-chan, we're in the same classes. Why can't we study together?" the twins whined in unison, holding up backpacks with books inside. She

stared at them for a good minute before turning to Tamaki and Kyouya.

"What's your excuse?"

"Hunny-senpai invited us."

Her mouth went slack and seeing the small blonde nod she rubbed her forehead, in too much disbelief to give a rejoinder. Yura gave them all a hard glare.

"I will let you in. If I hear one comment about the place, good or bad, I will kick all of you out, understand?"

They nodded.

She moved, opening the door wider.

The house, even to the host club standards, was a fairly…..adequate size. The door opened to a black tiled genkan and fairly sized wood paneled area before

arriving at a flight of stairs which led to the second floor where two bedroom doors could be seen. Though the front and second floor doors were of western

style, they were sets of sliding doors on the first floor: two on the right and one on the left. The walls were a pale yellow and the ceiling was white and

vaulted.

While the guys removed their shoes, taking out black slippers and replacing them in the three x four squared cubby by the door, Yura slid open one of the

doors closest to the stairs on the right, revealing a kitchen.

She asked Haruhi to show them into the living area while she made some tea. The living area was also of a decent size to fit them all comfortably (by Haruhi's

standards anyway); it consisted of one sofa against a wall and entertainment center on the other, a floor lamp occupied one corner and a desktop the

opposite corner along with a desk chair. A phone rested on an end table, while a filled bookcase took its placed near the entertainment center. The entire room

was lined with a baby blue rug.

"It's so cute!" Mori covered Hunny's mouth and shook his head.

Coming into the room, Yura paused to see duffle bags by the genkan.

"What are those?"

"Oh, they're ours."

"…I figured that. Why do you have them?"

"Hunny-senpai said you guys were pulling an all-nighter, so we thought we all could just sleep over."

It was the second time the club had seen a girl glare at the small senior. Yura narrowed her eyes before closing and rubbing them with her right hand.

"I had accommodations in mind for three people" Yura said slowly, with emphasis on each word. "Not. seven." She opened her eyes and looked fixedly at

each one of them. Tamaki and twins gulped. Kyouya pushed up his glasses.

"I'm sorry Yu-chan, me and Takashi thought it might be more fun for all of us to be together." Hunny was on the verge of tears.

Mori nodded.

"It's an all-night study session Hunny-senpai. It's not supposed to be 'fun'."

Hunny sniffed.

Yura rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright, fine whatever. But I will not be held responsible when you guys don't like where you have to sleep." Everyone except Kyouya nodded in

agreement. Somewhat satisfied to have their cooperation to some extent, Yura went back to the kitchen to turn off the kettle, deliberating on sleeping

arrangements.

* * *

'I am going to claw my eyes out at this rate' Yura rubbed her eyes as she looked over the exercises Haruhi completed.

"Are you tired Yura?"

"No, these contacts just feel like sandpaper on my eyeballs right now."

"You shouldn't rub them then." Haruhi pulled her hand away.

"They're so red!"

"_Ugh, screw this crap_." Everyone turned at Yura's mumbling.

"Maybe you should take them out, Yura-chan?" Tamaki suggested, surprised Yura even wore contacts.

"Maybe I should, Tamaki-senpai, _they're driving me up a wall anyway_."

"Driving you…up a wall?"

"She means they're bothering her." Kyouya explained, typing away all the while.

"How come you're in our English class if you already speak it so well?" Kaoru asked.

"Because my English, according to the instructor, though fluent is still limited."

"Does she mean you're vocabulary or what you've said and done in class so far?" Haruhi, having spent more time with the girl, knew how fluent she actually

was.

"…"

"Why do you stay in our class?" the twins asked in unison.

"Oh, I thought you guys didn't mind seeing as you two are using my notes." The twins shut up immediately and went back to writing. She gave a half shrug.

"I guess I just don't want to forget. Plus it is one class that's an easy A, unlike this cursed abomination." she frowned and pushed her history book away. She

began to rub her eyes again.

"_Oh my Gucci_, I can't take this anymore, hang on."

She was gone for a few minutes and came back with black half-rim glasses on her face with a neck chain secured to the handles.

Everyone stared at her.

"What? You never seen a girl wear glasses before?" she feigned annoyance to hide her discomfort.

"…Yu-chan…your eyes…"

She gave a long sigh.

"Yes, I know. It's a genetic mutation, let it go."

"Are they green or blue?" Tamaki came over and grabbed her chin. She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Mint green according to Yuki."

"Does he-"

"Yes, he has the same eye color as me."

The one time they were all silent, Yura became even more uncomfortable and irritated. Mostly because they were still gawking at her pupils; even Kyouya was

outright staring.

"Ok, now that the interrogation is over can we go back to studying?"

* * *

Kaoru jumped awake and shook his brother who was currently snoring over his notebook.

"Huh? Wait! 1825! Napolean takes the throne!"

"No Hikaru, you fell asleep. And that's incorrect by the way."

"What time is it?"

"4:30 a.m."

"My eyes are sore from reading."

"Hunny-senpai's gone" Kaoru commented, seeing the upperclassmen curled up on the couch.

"Yura's not too far off either." Haruhi added, covering her mouth as she yawned. She patted Yura on the back.

"Uh! yes…." Yura raised her head only to have her glasses fall off her face with a clatter.

"I think we should call it a night Yura."

She gave something between a moan and a groan in agreement. Getting up, she headed towards the door, bumping into it. She put on her fallen glasses and

went out. Yura opened a door on the left side of the staircase and stepped into a half bath, filling the sink with cold water before dunking her head in,

holding her hair. She came back into the living room, more awake.

"Ok." She wiped the dripping water off her chin with her arm. "Haruhi and Hunny-senpai will be in my room. I guess the twin's can take Yuki's room...you guys

don't have a problem sharing a bed do you?"

The identical heads shook.

"Ok, so the problem is Kyouya-senpai and Tamaki-senpai." She paused in thought. "…I guess one of you can take my parent's room…" she thought aloud

before giving a teasing smirk. "unless mommy and daddy don't mind sharing a bed too?" The glare she got from Kyouya subdued her humor.

"It was joke. Relax yourself. You two come with me." She said as she grabbed Hunny-senpai and gestured Haruhi to follow her. "Mori-senpai, I'll be back to

help you pull out the mattress out of the sofa ok?"

"Sure thing, Yura. Take your time." Mori said happily, smiling sweetly. Yura's eyes widened and fixed on his face, making sure it was Mori.

"He gets like that when he's sleepy." Haruhi explained, patting the young girl on the shoulder. Yura didn't respond, both because she was at a loss for words

and Hunny-senpai was much heavier than she thought.

She plopped him down on her bed and told Haruhi to leave her things by her dresser before leading Tamaki and Kyouya to her parents' room.

"It's not a king size bed, but it's better than nothing" she told them as she opened the door.

"Are you sure your parents won't mind?"

She scoffed "Hardly. They're barely around to use it anyway."

Kyouya did not miss her callous, distant tone. If Tamaki caught it, he didn't show it. Kyouya also couldn't help but notice how spurious the room looked. It

looked like something out of a furniture showroom than a place anyone actually used and slept in.

Tamaki collapsed on the bed, snuggling into one of the pillows.

"So, are you going to join him?"

Kyouya took a momentary glance at the blonde splayed out on the queen size bed.

He'd sooner sleep in a bathtub.

"The only options left are either sharing the couch-bed with Mori-senpai or sleeping on a futon in the traditional room."

His eyebrow went up at the mention of a traditional room. He decided to go with that. They went back downstairs and Yura assisted Mori in setting up the bed

out of the sofa, when finished she got a blanket and pillow from a linen closet upstairs before wishing him goodnight.

"Good night Yura, sweet dreams" Yura could feel the hairs on the back her neck stand on end. She also broke out into a bit of a nervous sweat when she

heard a loud 'CLANK!' reverberate throughout her living room which quite clearly came from the prostrate senior. She made a note to herself to

never do this again.

She opened the next door to reveal a tatami mat lined room with one window on the opposite side of the door. There was only one light, which Kyouya had to

turn on himself, seeing as Yura couldn't reach the string. Though it seemed to have been shut up for a long time, there was no musky odor, if anything it

appeared to have been cleaned recently.

Very recently.

"Oh yeah, futon." Yura ran back upstairs, leaving Kyouya to observe the place. Her footsteps coming back down, he reflexively stepped out of the room to

meet her. The futon seem to be a fluffy cotton ball, towering over Yura's head, making her unable to see the steps. Thinking she had reached the last one, Yura

began to walk as if she was on flat surface. Only she was off count by two steps and braced herself as she felt nothing meet her foot and instead was plunging

forward. She expected the futon she was holding to break her fall and it did, she just wondered when the futon became so warm. And smelled of dark

chocolate and musk.

She raised her face and the scent assaulted her nose full blast. Kyouya was glaring down at her, the futon resting on his lap along with most of her upper

body.

She got up quickly upon seeing his face.

"Sorry senpai."

"You need to watch where you're going." was his hard reprimand.

Her eye twitched. 'It's not like I asked you to catch me or anything…'

"I know, I'll be careful next time."

They headed back into the traditional room, Yura laying out the futon quickly, embarrassed to have tripped like that, and Kyouya watching her; when she was

almost done, his attention was drawn to a hint of white cloth that appeared to be wrapped around her left arm by the elbow. It looked like bandages. She got

up and sighed, pleased with her work and took the pillow she had given him and placed it at the head of the futon. He silently lied down and didn't respond to

her passing "sleep well".

* * *

Yura groaned as she rose out of the armchair, rubbing her sore neck. She gave a sort of laugh in the back of her throat, though not at all in a humorous mood.

It was her own fault she was in any kind of discomfort, assuming just because she, Haruhi, and Hunny were the smallest of the group that they could all fit on

her bed. Seeing the two already occupied what space was left, she decided to take the armchair next to the bookshelf in her room. The only problem was her

window resided directly above the chair, shining light into her eyes and waking her up at an hour she really rather not be conscious of right now. Unfortunately,

even after curling up this time on the seat and shielding her eyes, her body seemed determined not to let her slip back into sub-consciousness. So giving up,

she finally decided to get up and take a much needed shower.

Yura couldn't help but watch in surprise as Haruhi began to wake up. She had spent an hour in the bathroom, but hadn't expected anybody to wake up any

time soon. Haruhi looked around sluggishly before spotting her with a towel wrapped around her head, wearing an over-sized red shirt and black sweat pants.

"Good morning" Haruhi said groggily, yawning without even bothering to cover her mouth.

"Morning…" Yura mumbled. She found she could never bring herself to add 'good' to the small phrase. She just couldn't see what so good about it.

"What time is it?"

"…11:03 a.m."

Haruhi cringed.

"Really?"

Yura nodded.

Haruhi shook her head before climbing off the bed, stretching herself and making her way to her duffle bag. She searched through it thoroughly before giving a

"tch" under her breath.

"Yura, do you mind if I borrow your body wash? I forgot to pack mine."

"…Sure…if you're ok with using prescription body wash…"

"You have a prescription on your body wash?" Haruhi asked in simple surprise.

"Yeah, I have sensitive skin…last time I used regular soap I broke into a rash. Not a very pleasant experience." She turned away from Haruhi, drying her hair.

"Oh. Well I'll use it anyway."

Yura pointed it out to her in her bathroom, told her take her time and locked the door, in case Hunny woke up and accidentally wandered to the bathroom.

She decided to make pancakes and scrambled eggs seeing as it was still morning. They were really the only breakfast food she could make beside cereal. She

wondered briefly if the others would even like it, seeing as it was technically just instant mix she added water to. But then again why should she care?

She finished about four of them as Haruhi came into the kitchen. She asked the girl to prepare some green tea.

"Do you know how to work that?"

"A coffee machine?" Haurhi asked, confused yet amused at Yura's question. "Yeah I do…"

"Make some will you? They might want a cup. The blend's in that cupboard by the fridge."

A few minutes later Mori walked in, bed-head and all, but seemingly back to his normal self.

Yura decided to find out.

"Hey Mori-senpai, I hope you like pancakes." she gestured to the seven already done with her spatula.

He nodded.

Yura sighed quietly to herself in relief.

Tamaki, Hunny, and the twins eventually ventured into the kitchen as well, quiet at first, but soon were in a squabble about who could eat the most of Yura's

'homemade' pancakes and drink the most of Haruhi's 'wonderfully made' tea. Yura and Haruhi both rolled their eyes.

Yura placed the last set of pancakes on the table and was about to sit down when Hunny questioned aloud: "Where's Kyo-chan?"

The kitchen became deathly silent as the fact dawned on Yura.

'Oh yeah, he's in the next room.'

She walked toward the door. A hand grabbed her by the shoulder.

"Wait Yura-chan! Where are you going?!"

"…To wake up Kyouya-senpai. I put in the next room to sleep" she stated slowly, wondering why they were asking her such a stupid question.

"You can't!"

"….Why not?"

"Because Kyouya….Kyouya….." something appeared to play in Tamaki's head, his face took on a horrified expression before he ended up in a corner in the

kitchen, crying a puddle of tears on the ground.

Yura stared at him, vaguely wondering who was going to mop up all that salt water.

"Kyo-chan has a temper when he wakes up."

Yura, who thought the twins and Tamaki were exaggerating, grew a bit frightened to see Hunny-senpai looked somewhat scared as Mori began to comfort him.

She gulped, thinking maybe she should just leave him.

Then she frowned a bit at the prospect of having to reheat the food when he actually would wake up. She was not about to give herself extra work because

one guy couldn't get up on his own. She wasn't exactly happy Ms. Daisy when she woke up either.

How bad could it be?

So steeling herself, she turned around in the doorway and asked Haruhi to hand her a cup of coffee. She figured if he drank it, it would calm him down to some

extent. And if it didn't, she would throw it between his legs if he tried violence.

Brandishing the cup of Joe, Yura walked to the next room and left the sliding door open…just in case. She blinked in surprise to see how much light was

shining into the room, particularly on his face and yet he still remained asleep. She walked closer to him and crouched down, placing the mug by the top of his

head so as not to risk knocking it over.

Her lip twitched as she stared at the pale face, his long straight lashes, and his usually neat hair in disarray, thin lips in relaxed repose.

'How does he sleep so...straight…and on his back?'

Out of pure curiosity, she lightly ran a finger along his eyelashes, her own eyes widening at how soft they were. Realizing, however, that she probably

shouldn't have done that, she stopped herself from touching his fringe and let her hand rest on his shoulder instead, shaking him gently.

"Kyouya-senpai…time to get up…breakfast is waiting" she flinched slightly as she remembered it was past noon now. "I mean brunch, but whatever" she

added under her breath. Kyouya was still as inert as a statue. Yura shook him harder, wondering how this guy could sleep so deeply.

At the first sign of waking (his eyelids flickered) Yura took up the coffee and backed up a bit, bracing herself for an attack.

'If looks could kill…' she watched as a glare that could freeze over perdition settle on his face before he rose up eerily, glare turned on her full blast.

She held out the cup of coffee, resting her elbows on her knees so they wouldn't give away her trembling.

He didn't take it.

She brought a bit closer to her, blew the steaming vapor in his direction before extending it toward him again.

"I brought a sedative."

Kyouya's eyes slowly lowered to the cup in her hand. Yura was sure she reached a minute in her head before his hand slowly reached out and took it.

She stood up as he put to his lips.

"They're pancakes and eggs. I was going to make bacon too, but its turkey and not enough for all of you."

He got up slowly, cup still at his mouth. When he finally headed toward the door, Yura supposed she was in the clear and went about folding up the futon. She

was startled to see him by the door waiting for her. She found herself leading him to the kitchen.

As soon as she opened the door she was bombarded by bodies.

"Oh, thank goodness! You're still alive!"

"We were just about to come and rescue you!"

"_Oh my Gucci!_ Tamaki-senpai! Hikaru! Kaoru! Get off me! And put back the pans where you found them!"

The idiot trio, figuring they needed protection to go save her from the low blood pressure demon, put saucepans on their heads as helmets and had the lids as

makeshift shields. They even attempted weaponry: Tamaki wielding a wooden pot spoon while the twins held whisk in their hands.

Kyouya only shook his head at their antics, going over to the coffee machine for another cup of coffee. Yura managed to get back the pots, throwing them in

the sink, intending to wash them later, while Hauhi settled the three of them down.

The chaos only resurfaced when it came to who would use the showers first, seeing as there was six of them and only four showers. Yura quickly got them

ordered by having them draw straws. When they all finally left, Yura dropped heavily on her bed, finally able to rest.

It was a…lively weekend, if nothing else.

* * *

NB: Mori's personality change when he's sleepy is something shown in the manga. I decided to put it here because I found it hilarious (and kind of disturbing) all at the same time.

I don't know if anyone's wondering why I referred to coffee as a sedative, but I'll just say it now in case anyone asks later on: the definition of sedative includes reducing irritability (and watching or reading Ouran, we all know how Kyouya gets when awoken) and honestly I couldn't think of anything else. I probably shouldn't have even mentioned it. Oh well. Also the reason for four bathrooms: every bedroom has one, there's a full one on the second floor I didn't mention and I was gonna include a detachable shower head in the half bathroom in the staircase, but I refrained. Though I can just imagine Mori taking a shower there for some reason...anywho, will try to get chapter 6 up as soon as possible. Any questions let me know.

Love and Peace.


	6. Chapter 6

"We all make choices, but in the end our choices make us."

~Ken Levine~

* * *

"My…attendance?"

"Yes Komatsu-san, with the days you've been absent, including the two weeks you were sick, I'm afraid you're attendance could significantly affect your

grading for this term."

Yura couldn't believe what she was hearing. A week of cramming all the information she could into her head to get second place in the class only to be told all

of it was for naught because of some missing days.

She wasn't sure whether to laugh or cry.

So she did neither as she stared down at her shoes, feeling frustrated as those instances ran through her head.

How could she have helped? Those days weren't a matter of choice for her.

"Even though the two weeks were excused, despite the fact you didn't bring documentation."

She glared at her shoes at the skepticism she heard in the tone.

"…I was only in the hospital for two days. I spent the rest of them at home recovering."

"I see…"

"…Is it possible that I can speak to the chairman?" the thought came out of her mouth as soon as it popped into her head. She was desperate at this point.

The instructor looked at her as if she was insane, but acquiesced, taking up the phone next to him and dialing a number.

* * *

"I see…you are in quite the predicament Komatsu-kun."

Yura tried not to smile as she observed the chairman in deep but humorous-looking contemplation.

'The wonders of genetics…'

"Isn't there a way to make up my absences: extra work, supplementary classes…?" she suggested, as the chairman had yet to open his mouth.

He snapped his fingers.

"Extracurricular activities!"

"…You mean…"

"Yes! Clubs! Have you participated in a club since attending Ouran? If you can provide me with proof of your attendance I'm sure I can have something

arranged for you."

"Proof such as…?"

"Pictures, result of your effort in the club…or even a signature!" he pulled out a form from of his desk and slid it towards her.

"Have the ones in charge of the club sign it and you can consider yourself in good standing." Yuzuru leaned back into his plush leather chair, putting his finger

tips together, glowing with pride for his quick thinking.

Yura stared at the form for a full minute before hazarding.

"Um, may I ask a question?"

* * *

"Eh? You want to join the host club?" Tamaki blinked twice in amazement, once by Yura's request and another due to her bowing. It occurred to him that he

had never seen the girl bow before.

"Yes."

"Well…I thought you were already part of it Yura-chan, you're here almost all the time."

"I know, but I need…I need it to be official."

"Official?"

"Yes."

"Is there something else you'd like to add, Yura-chan?"

Yura closed her eyes and counted to ten before raising them in Kyouya's direction. She knew she wouldn't get anywhere by glaring at him. He met her

restrained gaze with a smirk.

After a while of this stare-down Yura said reluctantly, "I have too many absences and my grades are going to be affected unless I give the chairman proof that

I have been participating in extracurricular activities."

"I see" was Kyouya's only reply, as if he knew all along and just wanted her to admit it.

"Why of course you've been participating in extracurricular activities!" Tamaki got up and went into his usual hysterics, hearing there was a prospect of a friend

failing. "What kind of proof do you need?!" he asked as if her life depended on it, holding her by the shoulders.

She gave him a deadpan look. "I need you and Kyouya-senpai to sign this" she took the neatly folded paper out her blazer pocket and held the form in front of

his face. Tamaki took it and signed with an unnecessary energy. He then slid it over to Kyouya. The dark-haired second year read the form thoroughly and

turned to her.

'Why the blazes isn't he signing?'

"I take it that means you intend to host guest?"

'I'd rather be dropped into a moving jet turbine'

"…I was hoping that I could just run errands, help set up before they arrive and clean up afterwards."

"That would make you a lap dog, not a member."

"Haruhi does those things."

"Haruhi also has a steady quota of guest coming in everyday."

Another stare-down ensued. Tamaki decided to break up this one though.

"How about you host for a little while? You can serve tea too."

Yura's face resembled someone who had just been kicked in their pancreas.

"Only two days!" Tamaki, the ever compassionate one, couldn't stand the look on her face.

"But I would still have to serve tea afterwards?"

"Yes, you would."

The glance Kyouya got from Yura clearly conveyed the thought that she was not fetching talking to him. Nonetheless, seeing that going any further might do

her more harm than good, she gave a relenting sigh before nodding.

Kyouya signed the form.

She resisted the urge to snatch the paper out of his extended hand.

* * *

'I honestly have to wonder how I got into this strange club' Yura looked at herself in the mirror for the second time. "though its technically my own doing."

Once again it was a cosplay theme at the club. Once again Tamaki was struck with some eccentric idea for costumes for everyone, and the difference this time

was he wouldn't tell anyone what it was, simply stating that it was a _"surprise". _So she was currently in a dress. In honest truth, she actually didn't mind since

it looked like something out of the Victorian era; she had a strong interest in things related to the epoch, though she would never let any of them know that or

she probably would never hear the end of it.

"Don't you look great Kyouya? Though I guess that's no real surprise since you look great in almost anything" Tamaki wagged his eyebrows before giving his

friend a wink.

Kyouya gave him a look that clearly stated he was not amused or pleased, before going back to writing in his book, asking, "Are the others ready?"

Tamaki deflated a bit, seeing his best friend completely disregard his compliment. He went off further into the room in dejection to see if the others were

done. He didn't get very far, however when Haruhi walked out of one of the curtained rooms she had been changing in. Tamaki, upon hearing the curtains,

turned and became a statue with a tomato shaded face when he caught sight off her.

She was wearing a cream colored gown that had an emperor's waist and puffed out short sleeves that were tied into bows at the ends. She had extensions in

her hair that were put up into a messy French roll, ends of her hair falling onto her neck and forehead.

"Sempai, is it necessary to do all of this, I thought you guys didn't want the costumers to realize I was girl?" she asked Kyouya as she looked down at her

outfit, lifting up the dress.

"There's nothing to worry about, seeing as you won't be the only one in a dress" he replied and as if on cue, Honey-sempai and the twins walk out in dresses,

makeup, and extensions; the twins in identical long pink dresses with belts and Honey-sempai in a silk white collared shirt and a long pleated navy blue skirt.

Haruhi watched in mixture of disturbance and amusement at how comfortable and happy they seemed in their outfits. She looked back at Kyouya, who donned

a high-collared white shirt, a white cravat tucked into a black waistcoat with a dress coat over it, white pants, and knee length black boots. His hair was partly

combed back on one side, and his glasses were nowhere to be seen. She couldn't help but agree with Tamaki's statement, though she never in her right mind

would tell the shadow king that.

"Um, Hikaru Kaoru, am I supposed to do something to my hair or can I just leave it this way?" Kyouya turned to the curtain next to him to see Yura walk out,

bare foot, her hair still in her usual low boyish ponytail and for once not looking so annoyed. His eyes reflexively looked at the dress. A long flowing one

similar to Haruhi's, with an emperor waist, but instead it was dark green, had long fitted sleeves that slightly puffed out at the shoulders, and frilled a bit over

the hand. The front was a v-neck cut and had cloth of the same material covering the space the v-neck left bare. The twins instantly rushed over to her, holding

up their dresses as they went.

"Yura-chan, where are your shoes?"

She shrugged. "I didn't see any back there."

"And there is no way you can leave your hair that way" said one twin, lifting up some strands that had come out of her ponytail while changing, "come along,

we have to fix you up too" they said in unison, though only one pushed her back into the changing area, while the other went to find shoes. Kyouya looked at

Tamaki, who had by now gotten over his shock and was currently squeezing the life out Haruhi, gushing about how "beautiful and magnificent she looked in

her dress!" he rolled his eyes at the scene. Mori-senpai eventually came out from another set of curtains in a long black overcoat, a dress shirt, black pants and

shined black shoes. His short spiky hair was combed back, though some strands stubbornly remained at his forehead. He was approached by Honey who told

him he looked "quite dashing", to which Mori only nodded.

"There, now you're done."

Everyone looked back toward the curtain the twins had pushed Yura back into to see her step out, her look completed. The black boots she wore were slightly

visible so she didn't have pick up her dress to walk like the others. Her hair was put in a loose bun that let strands escape in various places. Honey-sempai

rushed up to her and gave her a hug.

"You and Haru-chan look so cute, Yu-chan!" he said giving her a big smile.

"Thank you Hunny-sempai", she replied with a small smile of her own, patting his head "but I think Haruhi is really the cute one here,"

'_more like beautiful'_

"and you." she finished, playfully tapping his nose. Hunny giggled and rushed back over to Mori for usa-chan and some cake.

"So tono" said the twins going over to him. "What exactly are we dressed up from anyway?"

"Well if you haven't figured it out by now I guess there's no point keeping it to myself any longer" Tamaki smirked in triumph, glad that the twins or nobody

else for that matter, had figured it out.

"Though I'm sure someone else would know. Yura-chan, want to give it a try?" Everyone now turn to look at her while her eyes were now on Tamaki.

"Me?" she asked in disbelief, pointing to herself.

"Of course, you know very well, you just aren't aware of it" the French blonde replied like some sage from ancient times.

'How would I of all people…_'_ Yura looked around at everyone in their outfits and the more she stared the more they seemed familiar somehow. She decided to

test the familiar feeling.

"Um…Kyouya-sempai, how do you think I look?" she asked innocently, turning in his direction with her hands behind her back. Kyouya, not quite sure why she

was bothering to ask, took a quick glance at her before giving a dry "decent" in a tone where "for once" would very likely follow afterwards had it been

anyone else.

"_Decent…_" she thought about it, tuning out the twins who were berating Kyouya for his curt and rude response.

'Decent…decent…that same high-and-mighty tone…but…with a different word…like…_'_

That's when it hit her.

_'Tolerable…'_

She looked around at everyone again, each outfit fitting the description in some way in her head before landing back on Kyouya.

"Mr. Darcy…" she couldn't help but smile as she said it for some reason, and Tamaki breaking out into an approving smile confirmed it for her.

"We're cosplaying Jane Austen's _Pride and Prejudice_", she stated happily, though she realized she was wrong about it being a Victorian age theme.

"See? I told you." he came over and put a hand on her shoulder. "Now everyone has been informed, to your positions so we can greet the guest."

Tamaki looked back at Yura to see the smile still on her face, which he matched with his own before patting her shoulder and going off with the others. While

heading to the door, however, her pace slowed as she began to think more closely about the roles.

'If Kyouya-senpai is Mr. Darcy, Tamaki-senpai Mr. Bingley, the Twins Lydia and Kitty, Honey-senpai Mrs. Bennett, Mori-senpai Mr. Bennett, and Haruhi is Jane,

then who am…'and her eyes widened as she realized who was missing and who that meant she was partnered up with.

'Oh no…' she let out a long sigh before opening the door in front of her and going up to group, allowing the twins to put her in position simply because she

couldn't care less at the moment.

* * *

As club was nearly coming to a close, a cue seemed to be silently given for "Mr. Bingley" and "Mr. Darcy" to make their final little performance. Since they were

seated on opposite sides of the room, Yura could only wonder when girls other than Haruhi and Tamaki's customers were gathering in a crowd around them

squealing in delight and fainting. She could only distinguish someone say "yes" in a brief hush, then an uproar from the hoard which she had, out of reflex, put

a hand on her left ear to protect it from the high pitch sounds. After a few minutes Kyouya, who had left for some reason unknown to her, came back and took

her hand. She looked at him confused as he then dropped to one knee, much to the delight of the girls starting to gather round, and said in smooth sonorous

voice.

"Ms. Elizabeth Bennett, I have tried to deny it, but in vain. You must allow me to tell you how much I ardently admire and love you"

The cries reach a rather uncomfortable volume at that point and Yura, now realizing what exactly was going on, though she wasn't informed earlier, waited

calmly for what was coming next. He paused until the girls had settled down and continued in the same tone and perfectly symmetrical smile, "and I ask if you

would give me the honor of accepting my hand?"

Now the the screams reached a frequency where Yura was cringing but trying to hide it. However, in the time which the girls were screaming Kyouya noticed

Yura's face take on an almost sadistic smirk and realized that the outcome may not be exactly what Tamaki had intended. Yura knew very well there

could be two outcomes to this situation: 1) she could go along with the book's plot and tell him that nothing he said or did could have convinced her to take his

hand or 2) spare him the embarrassment and accept, to make the girls happy. As fun as the first option sounded to her she decided to go with the latter,

seeing as disappointing the girls were not only going to bother her a bit, but have revenge exacted on her somehow; it did look like Kyouya was proposing to

a cross-dressing boy after all. So when they had calmed down to observe Yura's reaction, she put on what she hoped was a shy smile, looked away, and let a

faux blush creep her cheeks, before uttering a soft but audible "yes", which set the customers into another fit of squealing. She expected then for "Mr. Darcy"

to rise and tell the customers that club hours were over but instead he took her hand, which rested on the back of his, and put it to his lips. Then took his other

hand and brought it up to Yura's chin and much to the surprise of everyone in the room, stretched upwards and put his lips to her cheek. Yura, though

surprised, heard thumps, which was probably some of the girls fainting on the floor, but instead of responding the way Kyouya expected, she

went for a different approach.

No sooner had Kyouya put back down his head did Yura take his face in both her small hands gently, before lowering her own and placing a warm, moist kiss to

his cheek. She was glad Kyouya's face and hair covered hers as she squeezed her eyes shut in pain from the volume the girls' screams had reach. Also, to

finish off the little act of mischief, she then put her lips close to his ear and whispered in playful tone:

"No offense sempai, but if I were you, I invest in some chap stick, _ASAP."_

She lifted her face from his, satisfied by Kyouya's caught-off-guard expression though it was only for a moment, and watched as Tamaki had to announce

that club hours were officially over while Honey and Mori carried some girls to the nurses offices to treat their nosebleeds and/or bumps on the head from

falling on the floor.

* * *

"Say, what did you whisper to Kyouya-sempai back there?"

Yura looked up from the book she was reading. Surprisingly, it was the twins who stood in front of her with questioning and slightly suspicious looks in their

identical faces. She raised an eyebrow.

"What whispered to who now?" she didn't really hear the question; it was only the two looming figures over her book that made her look up.

"What did you whisper to Kyouya-sempai?" they repeated in unison, leaning closer. She shrugged. "Nothing of significance really." she replied offhandedly and

went back to reading.

"His face didn't look like it was 'nothing of significance'..." Kaoru mumbled, before they decided to plant themselves on the couch she was reclining on. They

each lifted her up; Hikaru her legs and Kaoru her shoulder and head, and placed them in their lap accordingly. Yura simply blinked when they lifted her up, and

again when she realized she was now resting on them. She tried to sit up and draw her legs in so she could be in the middle, but was held into place by them.

"Release me. Now."

"Not until you tell us what you whispered to him."

"Why are you guys so bent on knowing anyway?"

"Because we never seen him look like that, especially in front of customers. We're curious." Kaoru stated, speaking for both of them, looking over at said

shadow king. During this little monologue, Yura was desperately racking her brain for a way out of this situation.

"Why don't you just go ask him yourself then?" she tried, pretending to go back to reading her book.

"Are you crazy?! He'll probably just glare us to death or something." Hikaru almost yelled now, also looking at the host club vice president.

She sighed.

Her brain was fresh out of ideas as to how to talk her way out so she decided to resort to physical force. Without warning, she suddenly laid all her weight

down on the twins' lap, heavy like a corpse, her book falling to the ground in the process. The twins jumped, mostly because Yura had actually carelessly

dropped a book on the floor without even marking the page she was reading, which almost worried them. Kaoru being the one closest to her face, leaned

closer to make sure she was alright. Two hands shot up and grabbed his face. He felt a movement lower down and saw his brother fly off the couch and

landed a few feet away before he felt himself get flipped over and end up on the floor. They both blinked wondering what in the name of all that was good just

happened. They turned just in time to see Yura walking off with her book in hand, flipping through the pages, looking for where she had left off. Grateful to

Mori-senpai and determined to avoid further situations like that from occurring, Yura took a chair over to where Kyouya was and sat down, becoming engrossed

in her book almost immediately. So much so that she failed to notice Kyouya's glance at her as she found her place and rested her head on her folded arm.

* * *

It wasn't until she was near finishing the book, and she was straining to see due to the sun setting, did she even realize how much time had actually past. Her

head shot up to look at the window and then the clock. Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the time.

"So, you finally realized?"

She looked across from her to see that Kyouya was packing up his things to go. She, on the other hand, hadn't even taken off her cosplay outfit,

persuading herself earlier that she would change when everyone left.

"Oh snap" she whispered under her breath as she closed the book slowly and got up from her seat.

She stretched herself, cracked her knuckles and was about to do the same for her neck, when it occurred to her that he was watching her. Her brow furrowed

as she seemed to almost shrink from his gaze in discomfort. She wasn't sure why, but she didn't like the way he looked.

"What?"

"Chapstick?"

Yura blinked, before giving a purposefully forced smile, exposing abnormally long canines, which frankly just looked creepy.

"...sorry...?" she mumbled "...if it's any constellation it was just a joke..."

He looked at her for some minutes, pausing in packing, "I hope you're aware that jokes can backfire..."

The smile fell off her face and was replaced by a look of what appeared to be fear, though to Kyouya it looked quite comical. He would have smiled if it wasn't

his intention to frighten her. Fortunately for him it seemed to be working.

"I believe retribution is in order for your little joke."

"Retribution such as…" she asked cautiously, fearing for her safety.

And perhaps her wallet.

"You are now an official member of the club. I expect theme ideas from you for the next two weeks" He stated evenly, satisfied to see her gape.

"Two weeks?" she whispered weakly.

"Yes. I'll be stopping by this weekend to pick up the first set." He finished packing up his things and headed for the door, glad at how something so beneficial

had come out of the whole plight.

* * *

Chapter 7 on its way!

Love and Peace.


	7. Chapter 7

I finished it early so instead of waiting until Saturday night, I decided post it now. Though I highly doubt I can post another chapter for the weekend, classes are murderlizing me (yes I mean muderlizing).

* * *

"Here's to books, the cheapest vacation you can buy."

~Charlaine Harris~

* * *

"Haruhi! We need another refill!"

"Haru-chan! More cake please."

"Will you guys stop bossing around my precious daughter!"

Haruhi's eye twitched violently as she picked the last of the cups and plates at an empty table.

'Don't these guys have better things to do this time of year?' she thought with annoyance.

The Host Club once again decided to make a visit to Misuzu's pension for the summer. Though in actuality, they only followed Haruhi, knowing she would be

working there for the break again.

While they gathered for breakfast, Misuzu asked Haruhi to wait tables. She had just finished cleaning one of them when a couple came downstairs and took a

table by the window. They were either two very short adults or young kids who came with their parents. One was a girl in pale yellow dress which flowed

around her calves as she walked. She wore a wide brim straw hat which covered most of her face and left a hint of the black hair that rested on her upper

back.

One could only judge from the slim arms and dainty legs that her facial features must be as delicate as the rest of her. The other was a boy, who like his

companion was also quite slim, apparently in that transition stage between boyhood and adolescence. He wore a jersey, the sleeves dark blue and the

remainder white with an oval in the center with the words 'Bite me' in cursive. He wore denim shorts that stopped just above his knees and a cap that covered

his eyes. Despite his slim effeminate form, he walked with his shoulders slightly hunched and at a quicker pace. He reached the table first and taking up the

menu, his head disappeared into it. Haruhi went over to them as soon as she saw them settled.

"What can get you today?" she asked.

"Um...I think I'll have the toast with orange marmalade and some fruit juice. What about you, Yu-chan?"

'Yu-chan...' Haruhii turned to the young boy the girl had addressed. With the cap on his head, in addition to keeping his head low, she couldn't see that he had

actually dozed off in his seat. The girl took off her wide brim hat and hit him with it.

"Wake up, Yu-chan!"

Haruhi's eyes widen as she saw the girl.

"Yura?"

The girl and young boy then looked up at her, both their eyes lightening up in recognition.

"Haruhi/Haruhi-chan!"

Haruhi blinked and looked at one and then the other. The girl had called her 'Haruhi-chan' and the boy 'Haruhi'. She focused on the girl.

"Yura, why are calling me Haruhi-chan?"

"I'm not Yura," said the one in the dress, with a coy smile in place.

"I am." the twin in boy clothes raised her hand.

Haruhi wasn't too sure whether to believe them or not. Although what Yura wore seemed plausible, Yuki walking around in public in a dress was a

bit too much to grasp.

The one in the dress sighed.

"See? I told you no one be able to tell the difference."

"..."

"Yura?" Haruhi pointed to boy-clothes wearing twin.

She nodded.

"...And... Yuki-kun...?"

He nodded.

Silence.

Hunny-senpai walked over during this quiet interval and after seeing the twin in the cap rushed up to her and grabbed her neck.

"Yu-chan! What are you doing here?"

Yura, Haruhi, and Yuki all blinked and stared in surprise at the short senior.

"Hunny-senpai...how did you know it was me?" she extracted his arms off her neck and let him sit in her lap.

It was his turn to look confused. "What do you mean? Yu-chan is Yu-chan isn't she?" Yura continued to stare, at a loss for words. "Besides," he continued with

a smile, "Yu-chan wouldn't wear a yellow dress like that."

Haruhi and Yuki's mouth ended up agape. Yura just barely muffled a laugh, she patted his head

"That is true." she smiled and got up as Hunny-senpai led her by a hand to the table where the others were. Yuki and Haruhi followed.

"Yura-chan? What are you doing here?" Kaoru addressed the twin wearing the frock, his eyes trailing down and his cheeks dusted a light pink at seeing the

usually pants-wearing girl in a dress.

'She looks…good' he panicked internally and shook the thought away.

Yuki smiled, not missing the color and head shake of the younger twin.

Yura rolled her eyes. "It was Yuki's idea of a surprise for summer vacation." She pointed to her brother in the dress. Everyone blinked and looked between the

twins standing in front of them.

"Kao-chan! This is Yu-chan!" Hunny-senpai wagged a disapproving finger in Kaoru's face tugging on the twin wearing the cap. "That's Yu-kun!" he pointed to

Yuki, who put his hands behind his body and giggled sweetly.

Kaoru was horrified, though he tried his best to hide it.

"So what are you guys doing here?" Yuki asked casually, though he was sure he knew the reason. Yura took the seat Hunny offered her, while he took a seat

in Mori's lap. Yuki sat next to Kyouya, oppositely facing his sister.

"We decided join Haruhi here during summer vacation, seeing as she won't go to any of the places we invite her to."

Yuki's eyebrow quirked and his eyes focused on Haruhi who looked like she wanted to just bury herself in a hole and live there for the rest of the break. He

was about to call out to her when he heard a loud "thump".

He turned to see Yura's head on the table. Yuki sighed with irritation before getting up, taking up a glass of water.

"Honestly, if you'd go to sleep instead being on your laptop half the night we wouldn't have these issues." he mumbled to himself.

When he reached his sister, he pulled off her already falling cap and grabbing her by her hair, drinking some of the water until less than half remained before

splashing the rest into her face.

She spluttered and jumped up, roughly rubbing away the water.

"Yuki!"

"Sorry sister dear, but you were dozing and-"

"Yura-chan…is that a bruise?"

Yuki's eye widened and covered his hand with his mouth as it dawned on him what he had really done. He complete forgot his sister was wearing concealer.

"_Oh crap…_"

"_What the devil is wrong with you Yuki! Are you stupid or what?!_"

Yuki whimpered. "I'm sorry Yura, I for-"

"Ugh!" she brushed past him brusquely, covering her left cheek, running up the stairs two at a time. The host club called out to her, but it fell on deaf ears.

They followed her upstairs and arrived in time to see her slam the door with a force that made the table and a flower that rested on it shake. Haruhi went up

to the door and began to open it.

"Yu-"

"DO NOT COME IN HERE!"

Haruhi flinched before shutting back the door as quietly as she had opened it, looking towards the brother who was on the verge of tears.

Yura stared at the purplish black mark on her cheek. Her teeth clenched before spinning around to kick the door. She seethed for a bit before closing her eyes

and taking a couple of deep breaths in through her nose and out through her mouth, chanting something only intelligible to her over heated brain. After a few

minutes of the exercise she went over to the sink and wet a handkerchief with cold water and pressed it to the mark, bending down to storage unit under the

sink for a first aid kit.

The others were still trying comfort Yuki when Yura came back downstairs, visibly angry, but calm. Yuki raised his head at the sound of her cough and ran up to

her. He grabbed her and pressed his face in the crook of her shoulder and his body racked with sobs though he made little noise.

"I'm sorry. I really am Yura, I'm so sorry" broke in between the sobs.

Yura patted his back and, to the others, kissed his cheek, but in actuality she whispered something in his ear to which Yuki imperceptibly nodded. Yura peeled

her brother off her person and led him to his seat, an arm at his waist. He complied but tears still ran down his face.

"Alright, alright. No more tears, come on." She wiped the running salt water with her thumbs as they flowed.

She pressed her forehead to his. "If you don't stop, I'll be forced to lick them away" she whispered in playful threat. Yuki broke out into a smile for a brief

moment, wiping away the remaining tears himself. She remained in the crouching, hunched over position with her forehead plastered to her brother's until he

calmed down. The host club could only watch, marveling at this caring girl who seemed to switch with Yura upstairs. She, at length, moved from her brother and

resumed her previous seat, everyone else hesitantly took their own, all curious but too scared to ask either of them. Yura was the one to speak up.

"…We got into fight a few days ago."

Haruhi and the twins eyes widened notably, they turned to Yuki, who buried his face in his hands, elbows resting on the table.

"About what?" Hunny asked in a rare serious tone.

Yura's expression transmuted into something indistinguishable "That's the most stupid thing about fights" she leaned back until she was staring at the ceiling.

"I don't even remember. Do you, brother?"

Yuki hadn't move, but he shook his head nonetheless.

"Were you the only one injured?" Kyouya asked, the bandages he had seen on her arm awhile back coming to mind.

Yura glanced at him before looking back up. "No. Yuki's are just easier to hide."

Yuki shifted uncomfortably, as the attention turned on him.

"O-on my back, s-she scratched me."

"Do your parents know?" Tamaki regarded them both at turns. They shook their heads at the same time.

"We only had a week's vacation with them. They went back a few days ago." Yuki nodded wordlessly in agreement, his uncovered face now focused on the

folded hands in his lap. After a few minutes of deafening silence, Yura then attempted to dispel the mood by inquiring as to what they were planning to do

during their stay. Tamaki, ever perceptive but still an effervescent idiot, bounded for joy and began going into winded explanation of the activities he planned,

much to Haruhi's dismay and everyone else's relief.

* * *

"Hey guys, what's up?" Yuki let them into the room him and Yura had booked at Misuzu's.

"You two realize this is a room with one bed?" Haruhi asked.

"Yeah, we're just gonna share." Yuki responded with a wide smile.

"Yuk-_ the blazes_! Why are they in here now?!" Yura yelled as she poked her head out of the bathroom. "Yuki, hand me my towel and clothes please?" Yuki,

wide smile still plastered on his face, handed Yura her things.

"Do you need your glasses too?"

"No, I have contacts with me-well on me but whatever." Her attention was focused on the six other guys, but wandered after she realized her blunder.

"Need any help dressing, dear sister?"

The door slammed in his face.

He giggled.

"Yu-kun?"

"Yes Hunny-san?"

"Can we watch a movie? Yu-chan said she had DVDs in her bag."

"Did she now?" he mumbled, eyes narrowed as he looked toward the bathroom door.

"Sure, let's see what she brought." Yuki announced in ambiguous cheerfulness. He opened the duffle bag she had brought along with her upright suitcase and

shook her head as he looked at the titles. A quarter of them were anime and some manga were hidden underneath, but the rest were all either Disney or Pixar

films; from Cinderella to all the Toy Story movies.

'_This…chick_'

"No wonder she was up so late last night." Yuki took one of the DVDs, turning it over to read the back as a wave nostalgia washed over him.

"Is that Toy Story?" Yuki looked at the two identical faces that suddenly appeared at his shoulders.

"…Yeah"

"Can we watch it?"

"Sure…you've never seen Toy Story?"

"Nope" they said in unison as Kaoru took the DVD out of his hand to read the back.

"Where's the TV?"

"There are no TVs in Misuzu's rooms."

"Eh? Then what are we supposed to watch it on?"

"Yura brought her laptop." Yuki pulled out his sister's black 16" laptop from under the bed.

"Where did she get that?" Kyouya asked as Yuki placed it on a stand next to the bottom of the bed.

"Uh, it was a gift from, uh…our grandmother."

Kyouya's eyebrow rose at Yuki's poor lying skills but said nothing.

"The screen's so small…"

"Where are we gonna sit?"

"Good point" Yuki ignored the comment from Hikaru about the screen. "Ah! Yura, just in time, the guys want to watch Toy Story, but they can't possibly fit in the

space at the foot of the bed, any suggestions?"

All heads turned at Yuki's 'Ah' to see Yura stand by the bathroom door in white, yellow frilled nightgown with a rather large bow in the middle of it. It stopped

at her calves and made her skin appear even paler, though her cheeks were filled with color from the hot shower she took.

'You would think they weren't raised up being told staring is bad manners or something'

"We had a deal. Yuki and I." she decided to explain, seeing as the gawking wasn't stopping. "I wear what I want when we are out on this trip and he gets to

pick out my sleep wear."

"And what a good deal it was." Yuki added, mostly to himself.

"Where did you get it?" the twins asked, their designer eyes scanning the gown.

"I made it." They all turned to Yuki, Yura smiling despite herself at her brother's silent, proud triumphant air. But she decided to cut it short before his head

swelled and exploded by telling the others to just arrange themselves on the floor and bed to watch the movie.

Yuki pressed play on her laptop now that everyone was settled: the twins and Tamaki sat on the floor, closest to the computer; Haruhi and Hunny at the

bottom half of the bed, Mori and Yuki on the side, Mori in a chair and Yuki resting his arms on the bedside and kneeling on the floor. Kyouya and Yura sat at the

top half of the bed, seeing as Yura had watched the movie last night and Kyouya wasn't really all that interested. Hunny turned to her as the opening music

began.

"Don't you want to be closer, Yu-chan?"

"No, I'm good Hunny-senpai, I've seen this enough times."

"Are you sure?" Haruhi turned to her now as well.

Yura looked at him with a tight smile while music played. When it ended, she began to recite with the characters, same tone and precise pausing though her

voice didn't change in the slightest; she went on for a span of two minutes before stopping, smiling more gently now at his widened eyes.

"Does that answer your question?"

* * *

'Were the graphics of this movie always soo…_sucky_?'

The question was a passing notion in Yura's head as she wavered between the laptop screen and getting lost in her brain. She was facing the door in her knee

hugging position so her face was well in Kyouya's view, who was resting his back on the headboard as he sat with one leg bent, resting an arm on it. He found

himself focusing more on her expression than the screen at a distance, but it was only due to her ever increasing furrowed brow. Her glance went more than

once towards her brother; Yuki even caught her eye once and smiled, to which she met it with a small brief one of her own, closed eyes and all. The furrowing

got to the point where Kyouya was sure a card would stay in place if he put one between her eyebrows.

"Are you that bothered because you had a fight with him?" he finally deigned to ask. In all honesty he was just bored, anything was better than just sitting

there trying to derive a plot from a half-finished kid's movie. Her brow cleared as the meditative gaze now focused on him; she gave him a peculiar smile.

"Probably…"

He was both intrigued and irked by her answer.

"What made you think I was worrying about that?" she asked with hint of good-natured playfulness.

He turned his eyes back to the laptop screen. She chuckled and resumed her thoughts. It wasn't long before boredom had him once again studying her. She'd

get so lost that her mouth would go slack at some instances and it would be some time before she appeared to realize, closing it and biting the inside of her

bottom lip, using it as a latch. Whether she eventually felt his staring or her gaze just wandered over to his face, she caught his eye and said in a poor Welsh

accent:

"_You examine me, Ms. Eyre. Do you think me handsome?_"

Kyouya's lip twitched.

"_No, sir._"

Her eyebrows went up in mild surprise.

"You've read _Jane Eyre_?"

"Is that such a surprise?"

"Yes, it doesn't exactly come off as something you would read. Well, from what I've gotten through."

"It was a requirement for a literature class…you haven't finished it?"

She shook her head. "Yuki took it away and hid it; I'm only on chapter 21."

"I see."

"Did you like it?"

"I have read worse. I'm not a fan of Gothic romances."

"It's a Gothic romance?"

He allowed the twitch to form into a smirk now. "Yes, it is."

Yura's lips took on an "O" shape as she nodded slowly, her head wondering over to observe the others. She turned back to him after a few moments.

"Have you read _Pride and Prejudice_?"

He nodded.

"_No Longer Human_?"

A nod.

"_Don Quixote_?"

Another nod.

"_…The Sign of the Four?_"

Yet again, another nod.

She paused, going through a list of books in her head, trying to get a title he never read before.

"_To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee_?"

He opened his eyes, bewilderment faint, but evident in his face.

"Isn't that an American author?"

She nodded, trying not to look triumphant. "I finished it a while ago."

She stuck her hand under one of the pillows near the wall and pulled out a small brown and black hardcover, putting it in front of him. He took the book,

reading the back with some interest.

"Yura-chan, the movie's over." Tamaki announced.

"Huh? Oh, ok um…Kaoru, can you take out Toy Story 2 and put it in the laptop?" she said, her arm stretched lazily toward her bag. When the credits began to

roll, she was glad to see how easily they were kept at bay. She focused her attention back on Kyouya who, to her surprise, had opened the book to the first

chapter and was actually reading it (well more like skimming but it counts). He had gotten through a few pages before his attention was diverted by something

shining near Yura's face. He blinked in silent surprise to see two silver ring pinna piercings and a stainless steel onyx stud in her earlobe.

"You have...piercings?" he asked with hesitation, though he was looking straight at them while he spoke.

Yura's head turned quick with alarm, combing her hair back over her ear.

"Yes" she said after a pause; it would have been futile to deny it at that point, she had only moved her hair away because she couldn't take the dampness

tickling her face any longer. She was dazed a bit to feel him push her hair back and rub the onyx stone.

"Is that real?"

"No"

"…Aren't you too young to have so many piercings?"

"It's only one ear."

"Again, my question still stands."

She gave an exhale that was somewhere between exasperation and resignation.

"It's fine. Yuki did it, no one else knows, so all is well."

"Komatsu-san?" he said with some disbelief and alarm, though he didn't raise his voice.

"Yup."

"I highly doubt your brother would be able to purchase a piercer."

"He didn't use a piercer; he used three ice cubes and a hot sewing needle." She stated with relative calmness.

Kyouya's expression was one who had just heard a disturbing tale against his will.

"…why?"

She shrugged, looking at the wall, missing the change in his face.

"Because I felt like it. He has the same thing in his left ear."

"…Yura-chan, how old are the both of you?"

"Thirteen years and counting"

His brow furrowed. "Thirteen?"

"Yeah"

"How are you thirteen and in high school?"

Another slight shrug. "Well, when I enrolled here and took the entrance exam, it was with the intention of completing my last year of middle school. When I got

my results, they told me I had been placed in the first year high school section."

The young Ootori was centimeters away for outright gawking at this little girl in amazement.

'_Though that could be the reason I'm passing only by the skin of my teeth…_"

* * *

Kyouya woke up with a rare clear thought: that he was not sleeping in his room.

At least, definitely not his bed.

He simply lied there and observed his surroundings with his eyes, trying to remember what had happened yesterday. Then a low but audible snore caught his

attention. He turned and stared at the girl sleeping beside him.

She had her arms crossed and legs straight, but her face contradicted her stiff sleeping position. Her hair was currently a wavy mess; some flowed above her

head, some of it caught on her unruly thick yet curled eyelashes, and her mouth hung open. Kyouya scowled in disgust as he noticed the drool that escaped

from the corner of her lips onto the pillow, making a small puddle. His gaze trailed back up to her eyes which were fluttering, the bags under them visible

and Kyouya recalled her brother complaining about her staying up late watching anime or something.

He stirred after that thought and saw that everyone had dozed off where they were; even the laptop had switched to sleep mode. He got up and stretched

before going over to kick Tamaki awake, who jumped up in sleepy disoriented haste.

"Hein?! Je suis éveillé! Que s'est-il passé? Qui est là ?" he looked to see Kyouya looming over him with serious bed head. "Kyouya? What are doing here?" he

asked in a yawn, rubbing his eyes.

"You're not in your bedroom Tamaki; we're still at the pension. We fell asleep in Yura-chan and Komatsu-san's room."

"We did?" he observed his surrounding more closely "Oh, so we did. We better wake up the others and get outta here before they wake up." He rose and

gently shook Mori-senpai awake. The senior opened his eyes and took one scan around the room before taking Yuki up from off the floor and placing him next

to his sister. He then went for his cousin, knowing better than to wake him. Kyouya woke the twins, while Tamaki carried Haruhi in his arms to her room.

* * *

"Hey Yura-chan! Look what we got!" the twins' excitement alone is what brought a smile to her face, though she didn't realize it.

"Fireworks, huh?"

"Yeah! Wanna light them with us later?"

"I guess so…" she bent down closer to get a better look at the odd pictures.

"What are you guys gonna light later?" Haruhi asked, placing Yura's drink on the table.

"Hikaru and Kaoru brought fireworks."

"Oh"

"Where's Kyouya?" Tamaki came over to others after talking to Misuzu.

"Probably still at his place sleeping" Yura mumbled with the cup to her mouth, Haruhi thinking the same and the twins nodding in agreement.

"But it's nearly noon."

"Do you want to go wake him?" asked Kaoru.

Tamaki turned pale and shook his head vigorously.

When night had dusk in, the twins brought everyone over to their summer home in the backyard. However, Haruhi and Yura found themselves paying more

attention to the sheer size of the place than the bright colors the sparklers and bottle rockets emitted. Yura crouched down with Hunny-senpai and the others

as the fireworks sparkled about. She had never used or seen fireworks in person so she watched closely as the others lit them, Haruhi, Kyouya, and Yuki

watching from a distance on the porch.

Hikaru lit one and everyone held their breath for the spray of hues. Only instead of the flickering brightness the wick went out in a floating curve of smoke into

the air, the firecracker still intact. The older twin frowned, reaching for another match, he lit it again. This time it burst into a cloud of gray smoke enveloping

everyone. They all ran towards the porch, coughing and wiping their eyes.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, it just blew up! It must have been defective or-"

Hikaru stopped mid-sentence as he caught sight of Yura fall to her knees, still close to the smoke, with a hand over her mouth and nose.

"Yura-chan!" he ran over and helped the girl over to the porch. She coughed with violence and her eyes watered as she gasped for air between each cough.

"Yura-chan! Yura-chan, what's wrong?!"

"Her asthma…." Tamaki breathed. "Yura-chan where's your asthma pump?!"

The others stared at him in fascination.

"It's in her bag in the guest room!" Yuki answered while trying to move her into some position that would help her breathe better.

Tamaki turned to call Mori, but was met with an empty space as he felt a rush of wind pass him. He was back within minutes, tossing the pump to him who

gave it to Yuki. He lifted his sister's head and forced it into her mouth, plugging her nose, praying that she wouldn't cough it back up. Yura inhaled as best she

could, her eyes now running with tears. The hacking eventually grew less intense and soon she could raise her head, though she was still wheezing.

"Yura?" Yuki said in wondering concern, peering into her face while Kyouya knelt down in front her, checking to see if her breathing would resume to

normal, if not, they would have to go to the hospital. Her wheezing grew quiet. Kyouya called out for a wet towel, wiped her face and arms clean and

suggested she remove the contacts. Her brother had to remove them, her hands being too unsteady.

* * *

The next morning found Yura and Yuki back at the pension. They decide to head back after the incident when Yuki realized that her sister's pump was empty.

The host club came over in the afternoon and, with Yuki, went into the town, leaving Yura at the pension in the dining area. She was soon joined by Kyouya. He

had, of course, slept in again and even Tamaki didn't have the courage to wake him. He was still too traumatized from the last encounter with the low blood

pressured demon. When he spotted her, he drew out a chair across from her and his brow raised to see her reading a small paperback.

"I thought you said your brother hid that from you?"

"He did. I found it while he was in the shower. It was in the one place he thought I wouldn't search."

"And where would that be?"

"The bag where he's keeping my nightgowns."

Kyouya shook his head and said nothing.

They sat in comfortable silence, writing and reading at their leisure. It occurred to Yura now to ask him a question that had been bothering her for weeks now.

"Kyouya-senpai?"

He made a noise in the back of his throat as signal for her to continue.

"Why didn't you tell me that summer vacation was a week away?"

"As a student, you should have known that."

"Then why did you ask for theme ideas for the next _two_ weeks?"

"So you'll have something prepared for the week we go back school."

When silence was all he got to his response, he looked up from the little leather book. He smirked at the glowering hostility. She went back to reading. Kyouya

finished writing and was sipping on tea when he asked Yura if she had gotten to a certain event in the story.

"_Not yet, but I'll let you know when I do, rest assured._" She replied, oblivious, in the poor welsh accent.

He frowned and titled his head to the side.

Yura continued to read until realization dawned on her what just came out of her mouth; her shoulders hunched, unable to meet his gaze. She became

annoyed at how easy red suffused her cheeks.

"…Sorry, I was…um…reading that way in my head…yeah…"

"Uh-huh…" Kyouya put a hand to his mouth to cover a smile.

"Do you understand French, senpai?" it was the only question she could bring up as a distraction for her muddied thoughts.

Kyouya decided to spare her. "Yes, I do"

She flipped through the book and reached the desired page, standing up to hand it to him. He read it with a speed that made Yura pout in slight envy. The

envy changed to admiration as he read it aloud in plausible French though his native accent slipped in and out. He then told her the translation in English. She

took the book from him and wrote it down, trying to pronounce the phrase herself yet failing miserably. He moved to take the seat next to her, taking back

the book as the recollection of the many French phrases came to his mind. Yura had always thought of asking Tamaki, but refrained, fearing he would go into

one of his passionate harangues about the beauty of the French language. She listened to him, trying to form the words as she saw them leave his lips. He

perceived this and seeing he had spare time, began teaching her the pronunciation. By the time the others returned they were at a smaller table, facing each

other, Kyouya trying to teach her how to get the right sound for the letter "R" but she sounded like she was choking on her own spit.

"No Yura-chan, again."

"Ugh" she ran her hand through her hair, "Can't I just leave this for now?"

"No. now try again."

She hung her head.

"What are you two doing?" Tamaki asked in a hushed excited tone to see them leaning so close to one another.

"Kyouya-senpai is teaching me some French." Her voice was muffled from her still hanging head.

"Why didn't you ask me Yura-chan? I would have been more than happy to show you."

She raised her head with a blank expression on her face and said in monotone: "You weren't here."

Yuki's hand splayed across his chest as he watched the pale blonde go into a corner and poke at mushrooms that had appeared from nowhere. 'The people in

this club are sure from a whole different place…'

He held up a bag close to his sister's face, swaying it with mischievous smile "I got you something for you…."

"My refill." She said drily, holding out her hand for her pump, knowing Yuki had taken it with him. He sucked his teeth at her lack of interest and handed her the

asthma pump, also taking out a clear container and placing it in front of her. It was a jar of assorted mini jelly cups. Yura bounced a little in her chair, grabbing

the container and using her whole arm to get the lid off. She dug her hand in with vivacity and opened a green one, licking the surface of it in delectable

contentment. She broke out of this state to ask the others if they wanted one to which they readily assented, all excited to try a new "commoner snack". She

held the jar out toward Kyouya. He declined with a raising of his hand.

"You don't like sweet things?"

"I'm not fond of them."

Kyouya found the staring after his response a bit perturbing. She looked like a child who had just been told the truth about Santa Claus or a harsh reality in

the world. On the other hand, Yura was trying to wrap her head around the concept of his repugnance for sweet foods.

'Maybe that's why he acts so… serious and dry…but then again, Mori-senpai doesn't eat sweet things either so maybe not…'

She glanced at him from time to time as she attempted to come up with a reason. Kyouya mistook her sudden attention for her feelings being hurt somehow by

his refusal, which he found strange but was soon corrected in his assumption.

"So you've never liked sweets?"

Everyone was gathered at a bigger table now, enjoying an afternoon snack. He pushed up his glasses and Tamaki answered for him, hearing Yura's question.

"I've never seen him eat cake or anything resembling candy. That's probably why he's such a stiff-neck." Tamaki spoke in a jesting tone and everyone knew it

was, but none of them laughed. They remained silent as Kyouya got up and, with a jesting smile of his own, grabbed his best friend by the back of his shirt

and dragged him outside.

* * *

I am not too sure what a piercing machine is called (and just calling it a piercing machine seemed so…blah.) so I just went with what I heard Soubi call it from Loveless. I don't remember the episode and clip's been removed from youtube, so sorry I can't put a link. Also, I like to believe people revert to their native tongue when sleepy or half-awake, hence Tamaki's French, so the translation: "Huh? I'm awake! What happened? Who is there?" I got the French from Bing Translate so if it's wrong or inaccurate, I apologize in advance.

Chapter 8 in the week to come! (I hope...)

Love and Peace.


	8. Chapter 8

"The only noise now was the rain, pattering softly with the magnificent indifference of nature for the tangled passions of humans."

~Sherwood Smith~

* * *

Yura loved the rain.

The sound.

The sight.

When Yuki wasn't around (which was often as of late) she ventured out into the falling drops to take a ramble around the neighborhood and back. She would

often get scolded by Yuki whenever he asked; she knew it was pointless to lie, seeing as he knew the answer. He tried scaring her out of the habit by telling

her she would catch a cold (Yura hated being sick even if it meant getting to stay home), but nevertheless the urge to go out was so strong sometimes that

she didn't realize she had given in until she was dressed in her large raincoat and boots, the most yellow she ever wore without qualms.

She kept her outfit underneath simple: a black shirt and leggings. She carried no umbrella, but rather just put on her hood on and allowed the rain to wash her

coat with its untouched water. She wondered what it tasted like and had half a mind one day to walk with a plastic cup and collect some for a drink. She

walked with her hands in her pockets, observing passerby who were getting through the rain the best they could, evident in most of them that they just

wanted to get home as soon as possible. She smiled and lifted her face for a bit, stopping so it wouldn't drip down her neck. When she reached half way

through the familiar route, a gust of wind whirled at her as she turned a corner. She covered her face, her peaceful mood ruined. She loved the rain, but she

did not like the wind that sometime came along. The thunder she didn't mind, the lightening she found beautiful, but the wind spoiled all the happy she got

out of it. Feeling herself nearly being blown away a third time, she about faced and walked back. The wind had blown the water on her so much that, when she

got home, her leggings were soaked and dripping into her boots. She shivered lightly as she removed her clothes by the door, only leaving on her shirt. Her lip

curled slightly as she ran on tip-toe to her room.

She loved the rain, but she did not like being soaking wet.

* * *

When the doorbell rang she tried not to wince. She went to open it to meet her bespectacled upperclassman, holding an umbrella.

"Good Afternoon." He was in a good mood, which didn't help Yura's in the least.

"Hey."

Kyouya's "so you have something prepared for the week we go back to school" was complete quick-witted drivel. As soon as summer vacation ended, Tamaki

seemed to be on this theme binge in which he provided outfits for a whole two weeks himself. So it wasn't until mid September that Kyouya finally came over to

pick up her ideas. She left the door open and pointed out where he should put his boots to dry. He spotted small wet rain boots on the mat and took in her

colorless lips before asking: "You've been out in the rain?"

She was taken aback. "Yeah, I had an errand to run." she lied because she didn't want to explain why she willingly went out into a storm for no reason. When

he had removed all his wet articles, she made a careless gesture to the living room as if to say "you know where it is, no need to be so formal about it" and

went into the kitchen to make tea.

She came in with a tray and manila folder and set them down, taking a seat at the end of the table closet to the doors.

"I believe we've already had a discussion about your cursive with the last few themes." He held the sheet of paper in front of her. She half snatched it out his

hand and began erasing the sloppy cursive, replacing it with a neat print.

"Do you have something against kanji?"

"Do you have something against English characters?"

"Not at all."

Her eyes looked like she wanted to do something unpleasant, but she only sighed in frustration as she erased the letters and began to slowly write in a neat

kanji. He watched, silently impressed by her writing yet wondering why she wrote so painstakingly slow.

When she finally finished she handed them all back and he went through them again.

"There are only outfits for four days here."

"I know, I was thinking of making the last day an anime theme cosplay. I seem to recall you saying the girls liked it very much or something like that." She had

run out of ideas and that was her only back up plan.

Kyouya was sure he had not told her about the copious profits they had made from her last idea, but only nodded.

"Though I need to have a poll set up for the girls to fill out."

"…A poll?"

"A voting, survey, whatever you want to call it…" she wanted to make sure her choice was at least applicable. Though she watched the anime, didn't mean

those delicate, frilly little girly girls did as far as she knew.

"Very well, you can post one on our website. Where's your laptop?"

She was gone and came back a few minutes with her laptop. He looked at the multiple fingerprints visible all over it.

"Shouldn't you have that cleaned?"

"It's natural fingerprint magnet. I would have to clean it every time I used it then."

She accessed the Internet and turned it to him. She then shrugged and told him what to type, seeing as she really had no idea how to even use the website.

She refused to look at him when he paused to stare at her due to the title of show. He wondered briefly what people saw in anime.

"So how will we know when they've responded?" she asked after he hit publish. He refreshed the page and Yura saw there were already ten votes.

'_These girls are some scary son of a guns…_'

* * *

"Hey Yura-chan! We need help!"

"Do you now…?"

"Yura-chan!"

"Alright, alright relax your brains."

Yura got up languidly, standing by the twins, who were arranging Mori's hair and turban.

"How may I be of service?" she asked with mock grace, bowing elegantly.

They bore into her with irritated eyes; the stress and rush had them in less than a joking mood.

"We need you to help Haruhi get her outfit on." Hikaru said, adjusting the band across Mori's chest.

"And help Hunny-senpai with his." Kaoru continued as he walked away to help Tamaki with his purple wig and other ornaments.

"Fine. By the way, the churidars go around his waist as well. Also those two locks shouldn't be braided and they should have beads on them." Hikaru froze and

she walked off to find Haruhi.

"Knock, knock. I have come to help you with your garments, young lady." Yura placed a hand on her chest and got on one knee.

Haruhi rolled her eyes at her antics. "How do I get this thing on?"

"Here, just slip into the dress first; leave the lace and intricate ties to me." Yura went about rearranging the girl's dress, tying the bow in the back and even

adjusting her extensions and placing the little pink hat with the white carnation on her head, combing her hair and tilting the hat.

"You really pay attention to detail, huh." Haruhi commented as Yura helped her put on her shoes.

She gave a shrug; glad as she peered up and down Haruhi's body to make sure everything was in place. "It's a blessing and a curse." She loved the dress her

friend wore, not because of the color (she hated pink), but just the design in general. It was...beautiful. She wondered if she could get the twins to make her

one. They would probably freak. She went to go help Hunny as well, though she had to leave his hair to the twins. She then went to change into her

outfit. When she came out, she stood by the curtain as everyone else flurried around to get ready.

"Haruhi! Oh! You look so cute!" Tamaki gushed, rushing up to hug her but was effectually stopped by the twins. "If you mess up this dress we will beat you

down, BACK OFF!"

Tamaki cowered at their unusual serious maliciousness and went to his corner of woe to sulk. Haruhi, glad to have avoided a glomping session took a seat and

attempted to get some work done, though it was hard to sit in the gown and hard to see with an eye covered.

"Everything seems to be going smoothly." Yura looked to see Kyouya in a swallow tail coat suit. She smiled at the clean cut fit, but frowned a bit as she saw

the matted mess that was currently his hair.

"What happened to your hair?" she asked horrified.

He touched some strands and gave an indifferent shrug. "It's a wig. The twins said it was fine so long as the front was long."

'What kind of sloppy Sebastian are they trying to get away with here?!' she thought piqued, her meticulous side kicking in again, as she went to get a chair.

She placed it beside him, got a comb, and removed her shoes before combing and rearranging his hair into as close a resemblance of the demon butler as

gravity and the wig would allow. She got down only once to get hairspray and was so focused on getting every lock just right she didn't see the twins and

Hunny sneak up behind her, fully dressed and bored.

"Eeeeeeeeee!"

"AHH!"

Yura jumped off the chair and into Kyouya. He caught her with one arm and held by her bent knees as she was practically sitting on his folded arm all the while

holding his head in an embrace that was a bit too tight for his comfort. She turned and glared at them all.

"What the blazes is wrong with you guys?!" she yelled in anger, but it was really embarrassment that fueled it at being scared by such a little thing as their

girl-in-horror-movie like scream.

Kyouya was more focused on a distinct clicking sound he heard a little distance in front of him. He narrowed his eyes.

"Tamaki if you take one more picture, you will regret it." His voice was ice covered poison.

Tamaki stood straight up from his hiding spot, tossed the camera to Hikaru and ran to the door.

"Chicken tono" he mumbled under his breath as he took two more pictures of Kyouya grabbing Yura and placing her down on the ground, his face all patience

now.

"Are you done or do I need to sit down?" he asked as if Yura hadn't just bear hugged his cranium. She cringed at the mess she had made of her efforts, the

wig looked worse than when she started. "I think you better take a seat."

Yura was having the most fun she had in the third music room fixing up his hair. She had never thought of cosplaying anime before, but now she was seriously

considering it, though if she ever did go through with it, she would have to ask Yuki to come along. She knew she wasn't brave enough to go all alone. She

finally took a diminutive amount of gel on her index finger and wrapped around a short strand she had cut at the top of his head, letting it go gently and smiled

to see it curl. She moved away from Kyouya's view of the mirror so he could observe her handiwork. He gave no comment, but looked at the style from all sides

before bowing his head a bit in thanks. She nodded and began putting away the products she had used. This was something she could grow accustomed to.

She was putting the last of the things away when she felt two hands on her shoulders.

"How come you didn't help us with our hair?"

"Because you jerks didn't need any help with your bird's nests."

"Or maybe this is a role reversal with the owner and his butler."

"I didn't think you'd be into that kind of thing, Yuri-kun..." They snickered.

Yura stood up. Kyouya was putting on his gloves nearby so he turned at the sound of the cap of the hairspray popping off. She hit it against her hand,

assessing the weight, before turning to the twins, a gleam in her only visible eye. They disappeared as she walked in their direction with a slow firm canter.

"Don't run! Come and take your hits like men!" she yelled as she took off running after them.

"We're not men! We're reapers!"

* * *

There is a strange set of time in a person's life, when put into a new situation, when they are in a stage between being able to handle the instance, accepting

it as unavoidable, but still dearly wishing to get out of it somehow. That's where Yura was as she served the tea, trying to be faintly pleasant as the girl's

gushed at how 'he' made an adorable Ciel Phantomhive. Though she had expected Hunny as Lizzy, Haruhi's dress and even Tamaki's outfit (he

was the prince type after all) she wondered why Kyouya was made Sebastian instead of Mori. Sure, he fit Agni's description to some extent but she was rather

looking forward to see the tall, dark, handsome senior in the butler's uniform. She froze a minute as the thought passed.

'_Oh my Gucci_, I'm turning into them!'

She was startled out this epiphany by Kyouya who was doing his usual rounds across the room.

"Is something the matter, bocchan?" Yura blinked at his suave tone and smile. Maybe it wasn't such a bad decision after all…

"Uh, no nothing."

She walked away from him quickly and continued to serve the guest until she had finished. However, when she was heading for the door, a gloved hand

appeared on it, gently keeping it closed. She turned and found herself pondering when Kyouya had put in red contacts.

"Going so soon?"

"…I finished serving the tea" she said confused but somewhat entranced by the eye color. 'Maybe he really is a demon' it was half-joking thought.

"I beg to differ." He said as if she had said it outloud, to which she jumped and then pouted. They were unaware of guests nearby watching them. Kyouya was

relatively close, but the guests took it for role-play.

"You said all I had to do was serve tea right? Well, I did. So I'm going to go now." She said in low voice, trying to open the door behind her. It wouldn't budge.

"But we can't have bocchan leave so soon. That would be rude to the guest." He made a gesture to his right. Yura was, to say the least, freaked out beyond

most of her imagination. Kyouya created the impression to be taking this butler thing seriously. A little too seriously. Despite that, she complied, following him

as they passed by Grell and the Undertaker in a loving embrace. He led her to Haruhi's table and pulled out her chair for her. Now Yura wanted to laugh as

Kyouya poured and handed her a cup of tea, to which she let the aroma waft in front of her before pretending to take sip. The girl's around them were on the

verge of bursting with excitement, some biting into napkins to hold it in.

* * *

Yura took off the eyepatch, ripped off her wig and hair cap, before scratching at her head violently. The thing had been torturing her and she couldn't take it

anymore. The guests were leaving so she figured no one would notice her go into the other room; she even went behind a curtain for good measure.

"What are you doing here?" Yura paused in taking off her jacket and looked back to see a very confused but slightly humored butler.

"Just…changing…"

"Into my uniform?"

Yura didn't realize she had walked to a random room, it only dawned on her now that her bag was nowhere to be found and the uniform folded on the table

was most definitely not hers.

"…Oh."

"Yes, oh" Kyouya slipped off his gloves as he walked in. She took off her coat and unloosed her tie.

"So you're still going to undress?"

"It's not that big a deal. I'm leaving the shorts and shirt on, the jacket and tie are just stifling" she opened the first two buttons of her shirt. "Besides it's just

you, there's no reason to be concerned."

"No reason? And why is that?"

"Come on Kyouya-senpai, you and I both are aware that I'm but a little girl and therefore there is nothing on me to excite any kind of…interest so to speak."

She replied giving a half shrug. Yura was one of those teenage girls that wasn't too concerned about growing up. 'Que sera sera' applied to her view on

maturing, so she didn't feel insecure about her straight plank board frame. She didn't really pay much attention to it either; she had too many other important

things to worry about than bodily changes. As far as she was concerned, the only people who could consider her physically attractive were other thirteen year

old boys and pedophiles.

"And how are you so sure about that?" Kyouya walked closer to her, essentially trapping her to one of the walls. He leaned into her face until their noses could

touch if he so wished. Her face remained apathetic. "Trust me." Was her only response, afterwards she kissed her index finger and tapped it against his nose.

She placed a hand on her narrow hip and gave a pleasant smile at his stunned face, it quickly changed to irritation as he ran his arm across his nose.

"Now, now senpai, you shouldn't attempt to do those kinds of things, someone might take you seriously one day and call the police." She put the jacket over

her arm.

"Hey Kyouya-senpai, I hope you haven't undressed yet, we still need to take pictures!" Hikaru's voice was heard before he pushed back the curtain to see Yura

with Kyouya. He looked between them both, tilting his head.

"Are you two changing together back here?"

"No, I just walked into the wrong changing room. That's all. I was just leaving."

"Ugh! Yura-chan why did you take off you cap and wig? Do you know how long it's going to take to put those things back on?"

She gave an apologetic smile, walking out and putting the coat back on. "How long is photo stuff this going to take anyway?"

"About forty five minutes, an hour, at most."

While Hikaru and Kyouya headed over for photos, Yura went to the area where her stuff were and dug through her blazer pockets until she found her key

shaped pocket watch.

'…two hours…I still have time.' She put away the watch, closing her eyes and putting a hand to her heart before rushing out to the others.

The photo shoot ended in less time than even Hikaru predicted so Yura decided to stick around and read for a bit. Only, she had stayed up until 3:30 a.m. that

morning. Eventually, Haruhi and Mori found her at a table with her head half-hidden by her folded arms. Mori picked her up and placed her on a couch while

Haruhi got a blanket and covered her.

* * *

Yura's attempts to fall back asleep were being diverted by something insistently vibrating on her leg. It took her some minutes to realize that something was

her phone. She reached for it; eyes still close, wondering when she had gotten a blanket. She flipped open the phone and all she could manage was a gruff

"elo?"

The phone continued to vibrate. She moved it away from her ear, surprised and angry. She chose then to open her eyes to see the text alert on her screen.

She opened it and after glancing at the message sat straight up in the couch, her eyes going over it again before glancing at the time in the screen's corner,

now very much awake.

'No….no no no!'

She ran to the changing room, grabbed the black gym bag and nearly tripped as she ran to the door.

"No! Stupid! Freakin, stupid, idiotic buffoon!" she mumbled as flew passed everyone who raised their head from their various activities to see Yura in a mad

dash for the door, talking to herself.

"Yura-chan? Hey Yura-chan! Wait! Why are you in such a hurry?!" Kaoru caught up to her as she neared the door and grabbed her wrist to detain her. She

turned abruptly and snatched her hand out of Kaoru's grasp in one fluid movement, her eyes red, wild and glaring to a point where she looked much older.

They seemed laced with anger, frustration and…fear?

Everyone was now up and by the door, surprised and worried but mostly apprehension evident throughout the group.

Her breathing was heavy, but she closed her eyes and took a few seconds to relax her face. When she opened them again, she was still glaring but not as

intense, though her eyes appeared to be quivering.

"I have to go. Bye." With that constrained explanation, she opened the door and ran out without closing it. She kept running, reaching and climbing through

the dented part of the gate she had found when she began school. Her throat burned and she could feel her chest constricting but she kept going until she

was well away from Ouran grounds. When she reached normal civilian dwellings people stared at the panting boy who was red in face hailing a cab. It wasn't

until she was inside the silver Nissan Crew that Yura even thought of looking for her asthma pump. After taking her dose, the small child dropped her head

between her knees and, unbeknownst to the cab driver who thought she had just passed out from exhaustion, began to pray.

The next day Yura was not in school.

* * *

Yeah...I have a love/hate relationship with cliffhangers. Love reading them in chapters where the next one is right there to read. Hate them when I reach them and find that a story isn't complete or on haitus. Yet I love writing them...so to anyone who is saying "What?! Nooooooo!" I apologize, I couldn't resist. As retribution I will TRY to post chapter 9 earlier than next Saturday evening. And to anyone wondering how I know a Japanese taxi is a silver Nissan Crew: wikipedia. If it's inaccurate, please let me know because I have little faith in that site, despite it's convenience. Also for those who still might be confused, Haruhi is wearing the dress Madam Red got Ciel to wear in episode 4. I LOVE that dress. And Grell's shoes. Ok, enough.

Again, will get chapter 9 up as soon as possible.

Love and Peace.


	9. Chapter 9

I DID IT! *laughs like Mandark* Here it is, as I said I would try. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to give another chapter next week as it will be finals time for me. *cries* Any typos, I apologize in advance, I am not a fast-typer and thoughts flow out faster than I can manage sometimes.

* * *

Write injuries in dust, benefits in marble.

~Benjamin Franklin~

* * *

"_Whereon old Norway, overcome with joy, Gives him three thousand crowns in annual fee…"_

The twins' attention was again turned to the empty seat by the window. Haruhi also glanced in that direction before they left to their next class. It was the

second day of Yura's absence. No announcement had been made in class, per usual, the instructors didn't even seem to acknowledge her vacant chair, it

happened so frequently. When they finally arrived at the club, Hunny went up them, eyes expectant.

"Is she-?"

The trio shook their heads.

He sniffled.

Club activities went about as usual: Tamaki whispering sappy but sincere nothings into girl's ear, the twins caressing one another, Haruhi chatting animatedly

with her customers, Kyouya going around the room to ensure all the customer's satisfaction (and the club's profits), and Hunny and Mori being…well,

themselves.

Weird rumors were starting to float around the club room about 'Yuri-kun', his frequent absences and how he never took customers. It only made the sales of

the few pictures Kyouya had of her go up.

As club came to close and everyone went about straightening up the room before leaving, each male member called the number that had gotten from Haruhi in

some last-ditch attempt to contact Yura. Even Kyouya, while he was checking the tea and snack stocks in the other room, whipped out his phone, only to let

out a 'tch' at getting her voicemail. He slammed it closed in frustration, convincing himself he only wanted to know where she was because she was skipping

out on her duties. Not because he was in the least concerned about her well-being. Everyone left and other than the instance of when the first years came in,

Yura's name was not mentioned among them again.

* * *

When the third afternoon of Yura being absent followed without any call or announcement Haruhi felt she had had enough. She flipped open the cell given to

her by the twins and dialed Yura's number during lunch break, determined to leave a voicemail. She had already planned out what she was going to say after

the beep that she was startled by the sound that greeted her ear.

"Hello?"

Haruhi jumped and pulled the phone away, checking the contact. It was a man's voice that had answered.

"…Hello?"

"Yes, how may I help you?" the tone was polite, but still a strand of wariness stood out which Haruhi didn't miss.

"…May I please speak to Yura Komatsu, I'm her friend from school." She felt silly asking to speak to the girl when it was her cell phone and not the house

number she had dialed.

"…By any chance are you Haruhi Fujioka?" the voice sounded a bit excited now, the wariness gone.

"Um, yes I am."

"Oh, I should have looked at the screen before I answered but the ringtone changed from what was ringing earlier. My name is Hirohito, I'm Yura's uncle."

Haruhi's eyes widened as she bowed though she was on the phone. "Oh, i-it's nice to meet you…um, I was just calling to see if Yura was alright, she hasn't

been in school for three days and we got worried."

"We?...those number calling before were also Yura's friends?"

Haruhi, surprised but quickly putting two and two together, paused. She wasn't sure whether or not Yura considered the host club friends but decided to just

say yes, it seemed to complicated and confusing to sort out just what exactly she took them to be at this moment.

"I see….they weren't in the contacts so I just assumed they were telemarketers." The man said more to himself than Haruhi. "I apologize for not responding

earlier."

"That's fine…" Haruhi wasn't sure why he was apologizing for not answering his niece's phone but the apology only made Haruhi more uneasy as she asked,

"Did something happen to Yura?"

A sigh escaped on the other end. "Something along those lines, yes."

* * *

"What?!"

The host club all stared at the female host in shock.

"She's been in the hospital."

"A broken leg…and arm?" Kaoru repeated in a whisper weakly, still in disbelief.

"And a fractured shoulder." She added, her eyes downcast.

The room was silent for some minutes as the information was processed by everyone in the room.

"How long has she been there?" Tamaki asked.

"About two days. Her uncle said he received a call from the hospital yesterday morning while at work."

"And her parents?" Kyouya continued, his laptop and book beside him untouched.

"…He said he's been unable to reach them."

"Kyouya." Tamaki turned to look at his friend, his face solemn.

"Understood, it will take some time though." He went to his laptop, trying not to calculate the profits they would be losing today.

"Do you know where she's staying Haruhi?"

Haruhi handed the paper she had written the hospital address on, surprised at Tamaki's serious manner as he took it from her and looked it over. Within a few

minutes the host club doors were shut and locked, a little rectangle of cardboard hanging from the door handles, announcing club activities cancelled for today.

* * *

The host club, upon entering the waiting room, froze many nurses and female patients, some in mid-footstep. Some elderly women had blooms of red on their

wrinkled cheeks, glad to have lived this long to see such beautiful young men in one place. Tamaki was ahead in the group, going up to the desk and putting

on his most pleasant but subdued smile.

"Good afternoon, miss."

The nurse dropped the folder she was holding and the receiver nearly slipped out of her hand.

"G-good afternoon."

"We're here to visit a friend of ours. Her name is.." Tamaki paused for a moment, at a loss for a second about whether to call her Yura or Yuri. He quickly got

over it. "Komastu-san. Yura Komatsu."

The nurse's eyes widen to a considerable size looking all of them over, "Are you all friends of hers?"

"Yes, we attend the same school." He explained, his smile brightening a few watts.

"A-ah, yes. U-uh, this way." She shielded her eyes with her hands as she led them down a hallway and around a corner. She knocked twice before opening the

door.

"Komatsu-san, there are some school friends here to see your niece."

"Yes I know. Let them in."

The nurse gave a little bow and took another long glimpse before scurrying off back to the desk, deciding take good look at the girl's chart to see how long her

hospital stay was; it was definitely not going to be a boring long shift for awhile anymore.

They all entered and bowed as Hirohito got up from the chair beside the bed and bowed low with quiet grace.

"It's very nice to finally meet all of you in person. I'm Yura's uncle, Hirohito Komatsu. Thank you for taking care of my niece." A gentle smile rested on the young

face that sported dark eyes and black hair that was slicked back and had a shine to it. He wore a white dress shirt and black trousers, a suit jacket resting on

the chair, mostly likely just having come over from work.

They all introduced themselves in turn, Haruhi being last to which an almost affectionate smile crossed the handsome face.

"Yura has told quite a bit about you, Fujioka-san."

Haruhi blinked at his statement and her cheeks heated a bit at the sight of his smile before looking down, all she could do was nod. Tamaki and twins, though

surprised and bit peeved, only stared at Haruhi.

"Is Yu-chan awake?"

Hirohito shook his head, sadness etching his features now as he turned his head toward the bed where the small broken body laid.

"She hasn't awoken once since I've been here." He responded in almost whisper.

They all now got closer to the bed, staring down at the cast on Yura's left arm and on her right leg. She had an oxygen mask over her mouth and her hair

appeared to have been pulled up to rest in a cascade above her head. She also had small bandages and gauzes on her right arm and face. Kyouya scrutinized

her injuries.

"Were you told what happened?"

"She was found at a bus stop, unconscious. A person walking up to the bus stop was the one who spotted her and called for an ambulance…other than that I

know nothing else."

"Did they inform you what day or time she was found?"

Hirohito studied Kyouya, who talked more like a detective or doctor than a high school student, for a few minutes, before replying in a neutral tone, "Two days

ago, around ten 'o clock at night."

'The day she left…'

"When will she wake up?" Hunny looked up at him with tear glistening eyes.

"Soon…I hope."

* * *

The next day, club activities resumed as usual. Kyouya willingly volunteered to go visit Yura, much to everyone's surprise. He had some more questions to ask

her uncle; something about the man unsettled him.

But his efforts were thwarted when he found Yura alone and awake with a nurse, who was checking her vitals and asking routine questions after having been

unconscious for so long. She froze at the sight of him, stiffening until she looked like the same material as the cast on her leg and arm.

"So you're finally awake."

"How did you know I was here?"

"Your uncle."

Yura frowned, a line forming between her eyebrows. "My…uncle?"

"Yes, your uncle." Kyouya emphasized, thinking she was still a bit out of it from medication.

Her eyes darted around before she turned to the nurse as if she offered to answer her question. The nurse, an older woman with a kind demeanor, smiled at

her with pity.

"Your uncle dear, Komastu Hirohito-san, he came on the second day but left last night. He said he had to leave then or he would miss his flight."

'He's gone…' the thought angered Kyouya and it got worse as he saw the surprise cross Yura's face before in it settled into a resigned calm.

"Oh." She wiped her arm across her nose, trying to comprehend fully what the nurse had said to her. She felt like there was a fog inside her head and it was

taking its time to clear, she only gave a response because she assumed she should.

The sympathetic RN took her slouching posture and calm for an attempt to hide her disappointment. She patted her on the shoulder affectionately, not minding

when the patient shied away from her touch.

"He said he'd call you as soon as he could."

Yura nodded, still waiting for the fog to completely subside, she only caught a few of her words.

The nurse took her leave and Yura finally took more notice of Kyouya, who was currently looking through the chart that had been on the left side of her bed.

"I don't think you should be reading that."

He made no acknowledgement.

Yura rolled her sore eyes.

"They're discharging you tomorrow."

"Yeah, so?" she asked with a sigh, staring down at her hands.

"I'm having you transferred."

She turned her head too quickly and felt it spin a bit as she stared at him wide eyed, the fog gone now.

"Why?"

"You need to heal and that is not going to happen by tomorrow."

"And where I'm I gonna go?"

"To one of my hospitals of course." He replied, taking out his phone.

"You do realize I can't afford that?"

"I know."

"Then why-"

"Don't worry about it."

She groaned, both from pain and frustration. "Kyouya-senpai, please don't. I'll be fine at home; I don't need to be stuck up in a hospital to heal."

He continued his conversation and Yura dropped her head on the pillow, too tired to talk anymore. If he wanted to waste his air trying to get her into another

sterile white room, which she had no intention of going; it was his own blasted fault.

"No other comeback?" he remarked as he ended his conversation on the phone.

"Honestly, I'm too tired to deal with you right now." She half groaned, rubbing at her eyes with intensity. Kyouya sat down in the chair beside the bed and

stopped her.

"You shouldn't do that."

"I can't help it, I slept with theses stupid contacts in and now they're irritating me." She said about to raise her fist again but unable to due to Kyouya's hand,

"and I can't get them out, since I have just one usable arm now." She continued, freeing her only working hand to wave it.

He remained silent, seeing her point. After some time of mental debate, he put the book he had taken out of his bag down and spread apart her eyelid. For a

second Yura thought he was going to blow into her eye, but quickly apprehending his real intention, removed both the contacts with his assistance. She

couldn't see a thing now but the door and anything else next to it. What pissed her off was that despite that she felt…safe. She usually didn't like people

around her when her vision was so impaired. She could feel his eyes on her now.

"Is something wrong?" she asked with a sardonic smile, looking in what she believed to be his direction, only able to discern a colored blur that was different

from the walls.

"You seem tired." He replied steadily, despite being distracted by the glassy eyes focused on him. He was aware she couldn't see, but the color was not

something he was getting used to.

"Not really, just a bit of discomfort." She leaned more into the upright pillows and grimaced. He continued to stare.

"You do realize I can practically feel your eyes burning into my face right?"

"The doctor said you were calm since you woke up."

"So?"

"Are you aware of what happened to you?"

"I don't remember any of it." She gave a shrug with her good shoulder, "I have some broken bones and a fracture somewhere as far as I know." Kyouya was

disturbed by her bored tone and expression as she talked about her condition.

"Yura-chan…has this happened before?"

"…When I first arrived here, I was going to the store. I was almost kidnapped, but got away with a fractured arm and a few bruises." She gave another weak

shrug, "guess you get used to after a while…" she mumbled, her head turned away from him.

Kyouya was still in some form of awe when his phone went off. He hung up after some minutes, informing Yura that everyone else was on the way over.

"Oh joy."

He smirked.

"I wonder how I'm going to get around my house with only a right arm and a left leg." She thought aloud.

"You're not."

"Well, gee, that was encouraging, thanks."

"You're not going to be able to get around anywhere without some assistance."

"…I don't really have choice. My parents aren't back yet and Yuki won't be here for another four months. How-"

"Staying with a friend is also an option."

"I couldn't impose on Haruhi that way."

"Perhaps one of others?"

"Like who?"

Kyouya paused, pretending to think.

"There's no way I can go to your house to-"

"Considering I'm the only one with any medical background, it would actually make me the best choice."

Yura sat up and could only glare at the blurry form.

"…I'll think about it."

"I'm sure you will."

She looked daggers at his side view as he raised his head up to see the others enter.

"Yu-chan!" Hunny cried as he ran up to the bed, about to hug her but was effectually stopped by Mori, who picked him up and placed him on the bed side.

"How are you, Yura?" Haruhi asked the question that was on everyone's mind as she placed her hand on the IV implanted one.

"Fine. Could use a few more painkillers, but I'll live otherwise."

"Where are your contacts?"

"Ah, so the doppelgangers notice. I took them out, they were killing my eyes."

"Do you want me to get you another set from home?"

"It's alright Haruhi, you don't have-"

"I want to Yura. Tamaki-senpai, do you mind giving me a ride to her house?"

Tamaki's face lit up and he eagerly agreed, bouncing for joy as Haruhi got the keys from Yura's bag.

Yura smiled, happy to see them get some time alone. 'Maybe they'll finally get into a serious discussion and realize their feelings already' she mused, though it

was highly unlikely.

So Yura-chan, have you decided where you're gonna stay?" the twins asked with smirks almost splitting their faces, reeking of mischief. She could hear it. She

shuddered slightly.

"I'm staying with Kyouya-senpai."

Silence.

She could nearly feel the humor rolling off of him.

"Why?!"

"Because he's the only one with a medical background, if something happens to me you guys would probably just end up calling him or taking me to one of his

family's hospitals anyway." She mumbled the last part, getting more annoyed by the second at the humored silence next to her. Everyone remained quiet,

seeing her point.

"I hope you're not going to charge me or something." She narrowed her eyes, though she wasn't even turned to him.

"Now, now Yura-chan why would I charge an injured friend, when I was the one who offered in the first place?" he asked smoothly. She was beginning to

wonder if her other senses were heightening because she could hear the smirk in his voice.

'Maybe if I pass out again they'll make me stay here until my limbs heal.'

* * *

There it is, chapter 9! Now that I look it over it seems a bit short...ah well. Chapter 10 will might be longer. Again, any typos, errors, or misunderstandings please let me know. By-the-by, the little quote at the beginning was from Hamlet, it's the only play from Shakespeare I've read and actually like so far.

Chapter 10 will show itself soon!

Love and Peace.


	10. Chapter 10

Ok, so I know I said I probably won't be able to, but guess what: I WAS! Finals ended early (for me anyway) so I had some extra time. I'll try a get these chapters posted as quick as I can from now on before I begin summer classes. I hope you enjoy!

* * *

"Relationships based on obligation lack dignity."

~Wayne Dyer~

* * *

"How is Yura-chan doing, Kyouya?" Tamaki asked as he took his seat in front of his best friend.

"Fine" he answered curtly, not really paying attention to what Tamaki said but answering out of habit; Tamaki had greeted him with the same question

everyday for the past two weeks.

"Kyouya are you even listening to me?"

"Mm."

"_I think that I shall never see / A poem lovely as a tree. / A tree whose hungry mouth is pressed, / Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;..._"

Kyouya looked up from his notes.

"What are you talking about?" he stared at Tamaki quizzically, thinking that his idiocy had finally driven him off the deep end.

"So you are paying attention, you give me the same answer every time I ask you about Yura."

"What else do you want me to tell you Tamaki? That she's half alive in my basement, scavenging around for food?"

"Kyouya!"

He went back to his notes.

Despite the hyperbole, for all he knew Yura could very well be halfway to her own home on foot. Since arriving at the Ootori mansion, other than the first night

and next morning, Kyouya had not seen high or low of the girl. The servants brought her meals to the guest room she stayed in while Tachibana was in charge

of giving her assignments and notes provided by Haruhi. So to his estimation, as long as she was fed and kept busy, she was 'fine'.

"Have you even seen her?" Tamaki asked, narrowing his eyes with suspicion.

"Many times Tamaki." He lied.

And Tamaki knew he was. "Do you visit her? Talk to her? Anything?!"

"She is in my house, not the hospital. And she's not some elderly woman with dementia."

"So! She must be lonely, all alone in that room by herself…" Tamaki mumbled, his body drooping with sadness.

Kyouya just barely refrained from rolling his eyes.

'He is suddenly unable to recall that she has been 'all alone' in her own home.' Was his thought but he made no comment or allusion to it. He decided to go see

how she was faring this afternoon. Anything to prevent the host club members from visiting again, he was not in the mood for their antics today both in and

out of club.

* * *

Instead of handing the papers to Tachibana as he usually did, he went up to his room to change first before heading to her room with them under his arm. He

asked a passing maid what his "guest" was doing at the moment. Unfortunately she didn't know; she had forgotten that anybody was even here she was so

quiet and unassuming.

Not sure whether to be worried or unsurprised at that tidbit, Kyouya went to her door and gave it three firm knocks. He waited awhile, figuring Yura would

need time. However, when it began bordering on eleven minutes, Kyouya's patience waned as he knocked again. He checked the door.

It was unlocked.

He opened it slowly and looked around to see all the curtains in the room pulled back and the room bathed in orange-red rays from the setting sun. He turned

on the light and walked in until he discerned a still form on the window seat. Kyouya was sure he at least made his presence known, so why did she remain

lying on her back, her good arm over her eyes and leg hanging off the seat?

He dropped the folder containing her schoolwork on the nearby table with a loud 'plop!'

"Thank you Tachibana-san."

He stiffened at the low wearied inflection.

"You're welcome."

Her head shot up before she propped herself up quickly on her injured arm, cringing a bit in pain. She took up the glasses that had been resting on her chest

and peered through them as an old person would when they didn't want to admit they needed them; using them more as a magnifying glass than constant

visual aid.

"Kyouya-senpai?"

"How are you feeling?" he sat down on the other end of the seat, crossing his legs and resting his hands on them, his eyes focused on her.

"Fine, I guess" she responded warily, watching him as he sat down, "um, why are you here?"

"I live here."

She gave an 'I-know-that-don't-play-the smart-Alec-with-me' look before replying, "I mean why are in this room?"

"To give you your school work" He gestured to the table.

"…Doesn't Tachibana-san do that for you?"

"Yes he does, I also came to see how you were doing."

Her eyes narrowed for a moment while the unkempt head tilted slightly, giving Kyouya a view of the bandages on her shoulder. That and her blood shot eyes.

"Tamaki and others have been asking you about me haven't they?"

"Of course. They consider you a friend and are very concerned. What's your point?" he shot back as casually as possible, upset that she figured out his main

motive.

"So you came to see me so you wouldn't have to make anything up." She plopped back down unto seat, taking off her glasses and closing her eyes. Kyouya

clenched his teeth and glared at her for some time before talking.

"Don't you have work to do?" he asked, trying to maintain the casual tone.

"I could ask you the same thing. It's not like I have anywhere to go tomorrow" she turned her head away from the window and mumbled under her breath, "or

really can for that matter."

Kyouya caught her mumbling, and didn't respond. After a few minutes he got up and walked out the door. Yura let out a sigh when she heard him get up; being

in the room for so long with such restricted mobility was beginning to get to her. She could be alone. It was the sitting still that made her a bit glad that he had

come in. Or at least that's what she told herself.

She heard shuffling and raised her head again to see Kyouya placing his school bag and laptop on the table, taking a seat in one of the chairs.

"What are doing?" she got up and hobbled over to the table on a crutch. Kyouya was surprised to find himself stifling the urge to get up and help her.

"My work. I strongly advise you start yours." Was all the response she received; he opened his laptop and began to type. She dropped into the other chair and

after some difficultly, got her assignments out of the folder. She glanced up at him once or twice before focusing fully on her work, a little smile forming on her

lips which she hid by lowering her head.

* * *

This went on until Yura's arm was finally healed. She returned to the mansion after having the cast and bandages removed and tried limping around with a new

set of crutches, smiling at the relief of having two arms again. And being able to handle her sketchbook. Kyouya still came to study (and tutor at some

instances, biology also wasn't one of her strong points) so that he noticed her eyes slowly faded from red to white, though she still appeared to be growing

thinner, which he wondered at.

One weekend Yura woke up before her alarm. She laid in bed until it went off before heading to the ostentatious bathroom. She had just finished struggling on

her clothes when a soft, faint knock caught her ear. She frowned and scratched at her cheek before heading over to the door. The knock sounded nothing like

Kyouya or Tachibana so she assumed it was a particularly sympathetic maid, like the one who, much to her annoyance, came in occasionally to try and start up

conversations with her, out of lenity, while she cleaned. She opened the door, displeasure lacing her expression until she caught sight of the person.

It was definitely not a maid.

It was a gorgeous young woman, with black wavy hair and brown grayish eyes that looked oddly familiar. The pink lipstick covered lips smiled as a pair of long

delicate pale hands intertwined and rested by her cheek and leaning head.

Yura hobbled back a step.

"Oh! I'm sorry! Tachibana said Kyouya-kun had a friend staying over." Yura's fright was mistaken for surprise. "But he didn't tell me you were girl. It's nice to

meet you, I'm Fuyumi Shido, Kyouya-kun's older sister." The face she got to her introduction was so hilarious, Fuyumi couldn't repress a giggle.

'He has a sister…?'

"Yes, but Kyouya-kun doesn't talk about me much." Yura blinked, not realizing she had spoken the thought out loud. "I got married so I can only visit from time to time."

"Oh…I'm…uh, Yura Komatsu, i-it's nice to meet you as well." Yura attempted to bow, but Fuyumi stopped her by holding her shoulder, giving it a little pat.

"It's fine dear. No need to be formal, Tachibana told me all he could." she gave a smile, lifting her hand to Yura's round cheek. "I hope Kyouya-kun is treating

you well?"

She nodded, a little disoriented by the warm sweet smelling hand on her face. Fuyumi withdrew her hand and smiled apologetically.

"I'm sorry; I've always wanted a little sister you see. You looked so cute I couldn't resist."

The amazement wore off enough for Yura to look at her in disbelief.

'She's almost as bad as Tamaki…'

"I wonder if he's still up in his room sleeping? He should know better than to stay up so late when he has a guest; he's such a bad host." The older Ootori

pouted as she thought of her little brother's poor sleeping habits.

"Come along, dear."

Yura followed but it didn't cross her mind to ask until they had reached a huge door where they were going.

"We're going to wake up the grumpy sleepyhead." Fuyumi whispered as if they were on a top secret mission, even putting her finger to her lips before gingerly

opening the door. Yura's eyebrows went up to her hairline at the sight of the enormous room. She was looking around so much she nearly fell when she got to

the set of stairs leading up to Kyouya's bed. Fuyumi turned around at the sound of the thump.

"Are you alright? Do you need help?"

"N-no, no it's fine, I can do it."

She still waited a step at a time until Yura got to the top, smiling sadly as she watched her. Yura did her best not to make it seem like she was catching her

breath while Fuyumi went to the large king size bed and poked the bump huddled on it.

"Kyouya-kuuun! Wake up! How can you sleep for so long when you have a friend over?" Fuyumi crossed her slim arms and she looked at him sternly as he rose

up, glaring death into her face. Yura had to stop herself from clapping; she was so impressed. The older sister walked away, unharmed and unfazed.

"You are such a grouch. You have friend over, at least be courteous and see that she's comfortable and entertained." Fuyumi walked over to his injured kohai

and placed her hands on each shoulder, to which Yura reflexively straightened. She nudged Yura along until she was sitting on the couch near the railing and

winked before heading down the flight of stairs and out the door. Kyouya glared at her retreating figure and the very air she left behind.

'So she wakes the archfiend and then leaves me alone with him.' Yura thought as she stared down at her swinging leg, trying not to look too discomfited.

"When did you wake up?" the question was asked in a gruff tone.

She glanced up with her head still down, hearing the shuffling of sheets and then slippers."

"Around eleven."

He raised an eyebrow at her, his hand carelessly combing through his hair. "What time is it now?"

"About one, I think." She had seen him just awoken before, but never so disheveled. It was a curious sight.

He smiled at her wide searching eyes. "You're staring you know?"

"I know. You look strange."

"Is that so?"

She nodded. "I should go so you can-"

"It's alright, just stay up here." He said and with that he was out of sight.

She got restless as her moving leg no longer provided her with sufficient amusement, so she went over to the set of small bookcases he had across from his

bed. She stuck out her tongue at the titles: all business or advance medicine related. She fell unto his bed and closed her eyes, reveling in its softness.

"No wonder he sleeps in…" she yawned in the fold of her arm, tears gathering in her eyes.

* * *

"Have you eaten?"

Yura opened her eyes; it felt as if he wasn't gone for very long. She kinda wished he took a little longer.

"No. but I'm not hungry so it's fine."

"When did you eat yesterday?"

"Hmmmmmm…five-thirty….I think."

"Yura-chan, come down and get something to eat."

She sighed and followed him downstairs but at a very creeping pace. She felt as if she would fall at any second. Kyouya gave her a cup of fruit and she nibbled

on them after taking out all the strawberries and any fruit that touched them. He noted this with perplexity.

"Is something wrong with those?"

"No, I'm allergic to strawberries; just not taking any chances since I don't have my EpiPen nearby."

He nodded, making a mental to inform the chefs about it later.

Limping over to his larger bookshelf, she scanned thoroughly, hoping for a vaguely interesting title, seeing as she had finished off the books she had brought

with her. She spotted "_Jane Eyre_" and despite having finished the book, took it up to reread it again. They spent the rest of the day in his room: Kyouya on his

laptop and Yura reading through her favorite chapters of books he had that she was familiar with. Eventually, she had to stopped due her eyes getting tired

and ended up dozing off, reclined on his couch.

* * *

It was getting well into the evening when Kyouya heard the sound of almost a whimper from behind him. He turned and his eyes grew large at the sight of

Yura tossing back and forth, holding onto her recently healed shoulder, teeth clenched, sweat on her brow, and tears streaming from her eyes. She raved in

low quiet voice. All he could make out was a series of "no" before she broke into a shrill flesh-crawling scream. Water gushed from her eyes which were

squeezed shut as she thrashed about like someone who had been shot for the first time in their life and was left to wallow in the agony.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please don't it! Please!" she repeated in between her bawling, the expression of anguish and pain intensifying with each word.

Kyouya rushed up to her and shook her roughly, backing away in jerky steps as she screamed again, this time her hand reaching vainly for her right leg. He

raised her into a sitting position and shook her violently by the upper arms, yelling now for her to wake up. She then began to hyperventilate.

Kyouya was starting to panic now. He looked hurriedly around his room and spotting the bottle of water on the floor where he had been, grabbed it and

emptied the contents into Yura's face. She jumped up, coughing loudly before gasping for air, shaking like a newborn left in the cold, looking harried, wild, and

frightened.

"…Yura-chan?"

Her trembling grew worse and she looked at him as if he was the source of her nightmare. He approached her slowly, thinking she would try to run if he moved

any faster. She calmed by degrees and he placed a hand on her arm. She flinched but didn't move.

He wasn't sure what to say; it was obvious she wasn't alright, but what else could he ask?

She hiccuped and started to curl into a ball, but Kyouya stopped her.

"Yura-chan…what happened?" he asked in a low voice.

She had a shortness of breath, holding her head as if to keep it on her neck, before replying in almost a gasp: "I-I don't know…" After awhile she rested her

head on her bended knee, hugging her thighs and seemingly hushed.

"...Did it have to do with your wounds?" he risked asking again, his hand lightly massaging her arm.

"I…I don't remember…"

Kyouya was unable to tell if she was lying or not. He let the matter drop. The quiet that pervaded the room was becoming tenser and he felt like an awkward

fool for not being able to say anything that might provide some kind of comfort. He was a novice is such situations. Unable to take the silence anymore, he said

the only thing that came to mind:

"…You should go to your room."

She nodded and wordlessly started to rise; reaching for her crutches, but her quavering leg gave out underneath her before she could grab them. Kyouya

secured her by letting her body fall and lean on him while his arm lightly wrapped around her frame. He could feel that she was still trembling.

"Sorry…" she whispered hoarsely as she pushed herself off. She hopped to get her crutches and headed towards the door. Kyouya followed her involuntarily.

She turned when she was at the door of the guest room, but kept her head low.

"I'm…sorry…about that…for disturbing you I mean." Kyouya could only nod, staring at the diminutive child in front of him.

'What happened to her that day…?"

"Goodnight." She bowed her head, opened the door and shut it softly, leaving Kyouya in front of it, distressed and deep in thought.

* * *

Kyouya typed away on his computer for hours afterward later but his mind was divided in the task. He had mulled over the possible causes of Yura's injuries

and where she was found, but since he had so little to work with it settled into mere speculation until he dismissed it altogether. Now it was forefront in his

mind and theories popped into his head once again, the most reasonable being kidnapping. But why? And why break her limbs and leave her at a bus stop? It

seemed more like a brutal gang crime than any kind of attempt of obtaining a ransom. He took off his glasses and folded his hands over his nose and mouth.

His thoughts now shift on how long she might have been having a nightmare like that. The expression on her face had ingrained itself into the back of his

eyelids. He put back on his glasses and headed to up to his bed. One thing he was sure of and much to his dissatisfaction he had to admit Tamaki was right;

leaving Yura alone in that room for weeks on end was no longer something he could do unless he wanted feelings of guilt weighing down on his conscience.

* * *

And I have reached chapter 10. Yay! Kyouya himself has stated in the manga that he's not very good with touchy-feely situations so I wanted to make that claim evident yet still Kyouya-like. Unfortunately, having him step on her and tell her to suck it up might not be a good tactic. I was gonna have him slap her awake but that would not go well for various reasons that will be made known in later chapters. So yes, as I said before I will try to post another chapter. Hopefully by this Saturday evening. As always, if you have any questions let me know.

Love and Peace.


	11. Chapter 11

I know. I said Saturday evening, and I tried, I really did! But by the time I finished typing the chapter, it was 4 in the morning and I hadn't even got the editing done yet. So, now it is Monday morning where I am but here it is!

* * *

"There is nothing in man or nature that does not ask questions."

~Curtis Bill Pepper~

* * *

After the incident in his room, Yura tried to avoid being alone or even faintly tired around Kyouya as much as possible. This in actuality wasn't much, seeing as

Kyouya had determined to spend more time with her since then, so her little resolve came to naught. She dreaded the next day after that night, but since it

was Sunday, Kyouya didn't appear, much to her relief (his sister was not around to wake him this time). She hoped that things would simply go back to the way

they were two weeks ago.

'After all it's a new week and nearing the holiday season' She reasoned with herself, 'Maybe he'll just be busy until New years and by then I'll be out of here.'

All such hopes and aspirations died when Kyouya knocked and opened the door Monday afternoon. The whole time he stayed, she was high strung, waiting for

him at any time to ask her or make some hint to it. But he didn't. He went about talking and typing as if nothing had happened. And as days turned to weeks,

Yura grew less and less anxious until she thought that perhaps he had forgotten or decided not to mention it. A bit grateful for his tact or whatever it was

keeping him silent; Yura grew to be more comfortable around him, though whenever she felt sleepy she immediately excused herself. Comfortable or not, she

could not control what her brain decided to show her while she slept.

* * *

"Hey senpai."

"Hmm?"

"…What's your favorite color?"

"Why the sudden interest in my preferences?" he asked, highly amused.

She shrugged, hanging over the arm of the couch.

"Curiosity."

"This will turn into a one-sided twenty questions you know?"

"You can ask me questions…I'll reply."

"Is that so?" he asked dubiously, noting her particular choice of word. "Then what's your favorite color?"

"It's…kind of a tie between purple, black, and red, with red losing heavily at this point."

"So which color is winning now?"

"…Purple."

He chuckled.

"What's your favorite song? Oh, and you still haven't answered my other question."

"Blue and the Double Concerto in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach."

"Is that for two violins or something?"

"Yes"

She whistled a tune, ending it to ask if it was correct.

"That's the one. And you?"

"Me? Well, non-classical would be Lolitawork Libretto by Kanon Wakeshima; classical would be _Má Vlast."_

_"My Fatherland by _Bedřich Smetana?"

"Mm-hm."

He grew quiet, resuming his writing, but only half focused now.

"Do you have a non-classical favorite?"

"..Okuru Kotoba."

Her face was pure confusion and ignorance.

He opened his laptop and soon music began to pour from it. She listened with her eyes closed, head resting on her arms.

"That was…nice."

He nodded, though in all honesty he was half expecting her to laugh. He decided to see just how much he could get out of her.

"Is your eye color really a genetic mutation?"

The peculiar smile she had given at the pension settled on her lips.

"I like to think of it that way…but it's not."

He was all attention now.

"I, well we, got the color from our father."

"Your father is not Japanese then?"

"Not fully, he's a half; me and Yuki are quarters."

"Of what ethnicity?"

The smile widened.

"That I can't tell you.

" He narrowed his eyes at her, annoyed at her secrecy.

"But I'll give you a hint: wax."

"…wax?" Kyouya repeated, somewhere between thinking he had misheard and if hadn't, that Yura was insane.

"Yes, wax."

"What kind of wax? Wax sculptures in Hong Kong? The wax decorated Easter eggs of Ukraine or the Czech Republic."

She put a finger to her lips and leaned back.

"Tch." She chuckled quietly.

"So, I guess now I can't ask you how many siblings you have, huh?"

He answered, though reluctantly. Despite her obscure answers to some questions, he actually found himself unable to stay quiet for very long, as irritated as

he was. He paused now, trying to think of a question. Yura's plethora of questions flew off of her tongue like she had a list she was reading from when he

wasn't looking. He shrugged after a time.

"What's your favorite movie?"

"I would have to say…_The Secret of NIMH_."

"The Secret of the National Institute of Mental Health?"

"Yup, I love the animation."

Kyouya had been thinking it was some odd conspiracy documentary she had seen in the States. He slouched a bit and stared at her with boredom.

"Another kid's movie?"

"Hey, don't knock it till you watch it."

Kyouya shook his head.

"I'll think I'll risk knocking it with that one."

"Aw, come on, you can least attempt to watch it."

"…You have it with you don't you?"

She smiled before taking out a DVD case from behind her.

'When did she even bring that in?'

"Fine, Yura-chan, fine." He took it from her and placed in the DVD player, fully prepared to be bored out of his mind as he glanced at cover displaying four

anthropomorphic mice and a crow, before focusing on his flat screen TV.

It wasn't bad. Though it was a bit…dark for a kid's movie in his opinion.

"Welcome to 1982." Yura responded, smiling as he gave her an "I am questioning your sanity" look.

"I hope you don't anything else hidden behind you."

"Nope, that's all. I'm going to bed when this is done anyway."

* * *

When Kyouya arrived home from schoo one afternoon, he found Yura's room empty and Tachibana nowhere to be found.

"Hotta, where is she?"

"Yura-sama? She's in the backyard with Tachibana."

He took his jacket and scarf back from the guard.

* * *

'It's so beautiful…' Yura stuck out her tongue to try and catch a flurry. When none landed there, she opened her mouth wide and three fell before she closed it

back, smiling and satisfied. She had deliberated once or twice about what it was with her and this affinity for various forms of precipitation. Maybe she and Yuki

had been born on a wet day. She stretched out her hand to let the snow settle on it.

"So this is where you were."

Yura strained her neck to see Kyouya behind her in a long black trench coat.

"Ah, welcome home senpai."

Kyouya eyes widened a fraction before walking closer toward her. The snow was falling at a steady pace but so far it only stuck to the grass and cars and

considering it was early in December, it was an understatement to say Yura was disappointed. She secretly hoped it would continue and cover everywhere.

'I wish there was enough for a snowball.' She liked to make one and place it in her freezer. It was a bit silly and it shrunk as the months went on, but Yura

went about the project each time there was substantial snow on the ground. She even tried making a mini snowman once as a companion to along with the

sphere.

"Are you cold?" Kyouya asked, though he was checking to see if she was dressed properly.

"Nope. Tachibana-san bundled me up real warm and snug." She replied in a sweet cordial tone, nuzzling more into her coat, her jade green eyes (she began

wearing her contacts again) turned once again to the cloudy sky. She held out both hands now, getting a wacky idea that if she collected enough, she could

mold a small snowball at least.

"Yura-chan, you should head inside now, you have homework to do."

Her brow crinkled and she gave a childish pout.

"Alriiiight.." she rolled in ahead of Kyouya and Tachibana.

"How long has she been out here?"

"About an two hours, Kyouya-sama." Tachibana replied diligently, looking at his watch. "She asked if she could go out to see the snow fall for awhile. Being

outside seems to have done her some good." Tachibana noted, recalling Yura's good mood and bright cheeks.

"I see." He said nothing more as he picked up in his pace; Yura was cleaning the wheels with her gloves. He took them from her.

"Where are your crutches?"

"Uh….Oh! Over there." She point a little ways from the door.

He got them and handed them to her. She got up and balancing on one crutch at a time, shrugged out of her coat and unwrapped the large wool scarf from her

lithe neck. She tossed them to Kyouya, who handed them to Tachibana, along with his own coat, scarf and the soiled gloves. They went to his room to study.

Well, Kyouya studied while Yura once again began to scrutinize his bookshelf for any decent contenders.

"Aren't you tired of reading?"

Yura made a gasp as if horrified before chuckling. "I can't do much else. I left my laptop at home and my sketchbook is down in the guest room."

Kyouya looked around and found a paper pad, which he gave to her along with a black stick.

"What's this?" she asked, taking the paper pad and what she thought was black chalk, staring in puzzlement at the residue it left on her fingertips.

"It's a charcoal stick."

"Oh…" she went to the opposite side of the table and plopped down on the floor (she didn't want to risk staining his white couch) and feeling it would be nosy,

flipped through the pad quickly until she found a blank page. Though by what she had glanced at, Kyouya was amazing with the small piece of carbon. Yura

pondered where he found time to draw when all he seemed to do was type and calculate figures. She made a few experimental strokes to adjust and then

drew a sphere attempting to shade, something she tended to avoid since wasn't sure how it all went. Tired of the multiple circles, she decided to try sketching

out his laptop; she doubted she could get any good detail of his face with the broad tip.

"What do you use to erase?"

"French bread. It leaves the paper clean."

"Bread? That's such a waste! Don't you have anything else?"

"A kneadable eraser." He responded as he got up and placed the putty-like substance in her hand.

"_Cuts through glass like it was putty…_" she mumbled to herself before laughing a bit.

Kyouya watched her for some time as she drew, thinking back to the peaceful expression on her face while she was outside.

He wondered if she still had nightmares.

* * *

"Yura-chan"

"Yes senpai" she said with absent cheer, making a rough outline of his window.

"What do you say to going out this weekend?"

She froze before her head shot up with an animation Kyouya felt highly unnecessary. He wasn't aware she was barely keeping in excitement as she asked

where.

"The mall."

Her eyes shone. Kyouya was torn between laughing and being disturbed.

"Can we go to a bookstore?" she finally voiced the secret hope, the source of her excitation.

He gave a long sigh while shaking his head.

"Is that all you think about?"

She opened her mouth to speak.

"Do not say anime."

She closed it.

* * *

'So this is where rich people shop…' Yura's mouth was agape and it took Kyouya having to threaten to tape her lips together to close it.

"Uh, Kyouya-senpai, I can use the controls in front of the arm rest to move you know?"

"Yes, I know that."

"So then why are you pushing me?"

"Humor me, Yura-chan."

She shrugged and sat back in the electric wheelchair; though she was anything from relaxed. Other than her trips to physical therapy twice a week, Yura

hadn't ventured outside much. The lack of interaction had developed into a bit of an anxiety overtime, which she felt was ridiculous in itself. Still, it was how she

felt, so she tried not to think too much about it as Kyouya glided pass by store after extravagantly-decorated store.

"So, where to first?"

"Here" Kyouya pushed her into a clothing store, where only then he allowed her move around with the controls.

"Buying yourself an early Christmas present?"

"If you want to put it that way." Kyouya responded somewhat absently, looking through shirts.

Yura pulled out a sleeve and checked the price tag. Her other hand reached up a lightly to grasp her throat. "Sweet mother of Jefferson Davis…" she murmured

in a shaky voice.

"I highly doubt that would fit you." Kyouya teased, seeing her face.

"I wouldn't buy this shirt even it had been spun from gold and had a genie come out of it every time I rubbed the breast pocket."

He laughed lightly, taking four shirts to the changing room.

* * *

"Show us the shirts. Show us the shirts."

"Yura-chan, I can have Tachibana take out of the store."

"Alright, alright, behaving."

Kyouya came out with four shirts in arm, heading for the register.

"So you're really not going to show us?"

"You actually wanted to see?"

She shrugged. "That's what Yuki usually does."

Kyouya nodded, gesturing to Yura follow him out.

"Can we-"

"Yes Yura-chan we can, relax."

'This girl…' He never seen her smile so wide and unreserved in all the time they knew each other. Ever. It could not be healthy for a girl her age to be so

obsessed with books. Other customers giggled and talked among themselves as they watch the handsome cool guy tail behind his disabled little sister. Yura

was so ecstatic and going threw her mental booklist that she was deaf to what being said around her. The joy of having new material to read after rereading

so much made her exuberant and that light shone in her face.

Kyouya let out a frustrated huff as she somehow managed to find the manga section.

"I'll be over here." He told her pointing to the shelves of non-fiction works, to which she gave a half-nod. Kyouya walked away, wondering if she had even

heard him.

She picked all the titles she wanted at a speed quicker than the other books and peeked over to see Kyouya going through a hardcover before bee lining for

the register.

"Good afternoon." The cashier said without enthusiasm. Working in an affluent store where you can't afford anything unless you use a whole two weeks

paycheck had grounded this young man into a ball of slightly bitter but resigned contempt. Yura blushed and put the basket on the counter. The anxiety had

returned now the joy had subsided. The cashier gave her a total, no longer surprised by how much things cost in this place. He also wasn't the least bit fazed

to see Yura pull out and hand him a debit card either.

"Thank you for your patronage," he glanced at the card, "Ta-"

"Yes! Thank you and have a nice day!" Yura spoke loudly over him and took the bags and card with haste, leaving the guy to think she was a weirdo or just crazy.

'He couldn't just hand the card back quietly could he…' she thought with frustration mixed in with embarrassment at how loud she had raised her voice.

She was outside the store before she realized and didn't have to wait long before Kyouya came out, another bag in his hand.

"Why are you waiting out here?"

"…I couldn't take the staring."

Kyouya scanned the mall to see there were plenty of people staring at her, mostly because of her clutching bags to her chest for dear life, but he learned by

now it was better not to question her further sometimes. They went through a few more stores, even passing by a child's clothing boutique where Yura

stopped to stare at the red holiday dress put up for display in the large window. Kyouya looked back at the absent sound of a motor.

"I thought you didn't like dresses?" all he had ever seen her in so far were pants.

"I don't mind at all as long as I like it." She responded, thinking back to the muslin drenched French dress.

"You wear children's clothes?"

"What other size do you think I can wear?"

He shrugged; surprised that he didn't realize that earlier.

"Are you buying it?"

"No, probably wouldn't look right on me anyway…" then she added as an afterthought, "probably can't afford it either."

"You bought books here."

"I've been saving up money to buy books since January of this year."

"…I see." he said walking away, Yura following.

"You think we can stop somewhere before we head back?"

* * *

Kyouya was surprised to find Yura's house clean, with no hint of the musty odor usual for a house long left unattended. She didn't miss the questioning gaze.

"Parents have a house keeper. I told them I wasn't going to be here for awhile."

"And yet you don't know what it is your parents do for a living?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

He still refused to believe that answer.

He helped her up the stairs to her room, the duffle bag she insisted on bringing with them from his house over his arm. It wasn't until he had placed the bag

down and watched as Yura dragged it to her bookshelf before diving in; that it occurred to him he had never been in her room before. It was dim, the only light

coming from a small window which she opened, refusing to turn on the light switch. He noted her bed was placed against the wall and had only one end table,

which fitted neatly between it and the frame to the door of her bathroom. She also had a black little dressing table vanity with no mirror, a small vintage

Chinese wood jewelry box, the sole occupant on the top. He opened it, surprised to see it contained only white pills still in their plastic and foil packaging, a key

shaped pocket watch and her three earrings.

"Brazen of you eh? Looking through people's things."

He closed the box, not in the least surprised or guilty. "You've gone through my room at least twice."

"Never gone through your jewelry though. If you're so bored, help get these thinner books on the top shelf will you?"

He did as she asked; glancing at her from time to time to see her move back to check to see if the size of each book was in order. When she was done, she

went into her bathroom to grab more contacts. He went back to the pastime of standing in the middle of the room.

"You know, you can sit on the chair right? You won't catch fleas or get eaten or anything."

"Oh, then that's a relief." He said in dry sarcasm as he partially leaned against the bookshelf.

He heard the echo of her laugh from where he stood. After some minutes she came out.

"Ok all se-AHH!"

Yura was paying more attention to the little toiletry bag than where she was placing her crutches, causing her to stick them right on the space between the

tiled bathroom floor and the edge of the door post.

A perfect tripping area.

Kyouya dashed the moment he saw where her crutches stubbed and managed to grab her before she did a nose dive into the hard wood floor.

"Are you Ok?"

"_Mother of crud! That would not have been fun!_" she exclaimed. "Yeah I am thanks." She smiled at him.

Kyouya stayed there bent on one knee staring at her face a little longer than he should have. Yura frowned a bit.

"Something wrong?"

There was a sustained pause before Kyouya blinked a few times, looking towards her door.

"No, nothing at all."

He set her upright again, fixing his clothes afterwards.

"Well as a token of thanks for your good deed, a present." She announced in a playful exaggeration of a princess presenting a reward to knight, going over to

a draw in her vanity and pulling out a DVD case.

He took the case with caution, as if it would explode at any moment.

"The Boy with the Face Eating Tumor?"

"Yeah, it's documentary. Yuki recorded it for me a few years ago so I would stop staying up until two in the morning to watch it."

"You watch things of this nature?" Kyouya asked in utter disbelief, looking at her like he had never seen her before.

"Uh-huh, there was on an Indian girl with 6 limbs I think that I was going to watch, but I missed it." She spoke and gave a small grunt as she attempted to

reach down for her bag off the floor. Her droll pride, would not let her admit to anyone that she would be scared and paranoid after watching those programs,

but to her the rarity of the conditions was worth the few weeks of fright.

Kyouya put two fingers on her forehead and raised her up from the half bent position, giving her a look of irritation at her adamancy for not asking for help at

such instances as he grabbed the bag.

* * *

"You're worse than Tamaki." He commented quietly to himself as they got in the car.

"With what?!" she asked in joking alarm at being worse than Tamaki in something.

"Your interests."

"I'm not that interested in Jap-"

"I mean the vast amount of shows you watch." He cut her off, staring at the white case that only had the title on the front.

"We can watch it now if you want." She suggested, getting her laptop out.

"We're in a car."

"So? I've watch things on my phone in crowded trains before."

He was going to protest, but seeing she already turned the computer on, decided to remain silent. He suppressed a startled jump as the boy flashed across

the screen.

'…whoa…'

"Can he see?"

"Only out of one eye I believe."

This he could get into. Though Yura didn't understand everything, Kyouya could clearly follow the doctor's explanations and procedures.

"Using the tumor to reconstruct his face…" he mused aloud, finger to his chin, as a 3-D depiction of the surgeon's plan played out.

"Since the tumor is benign and most of his facial bone structure is pushed back and too little developed, it seems like the best option."

Kyouya's hand slowly fell from his chin, giving her an odd stare.

"You can understand this, but have trouble with Biology?"

"That class and textbook puts me to sleep. This is WAY more interesting."

"So there are books even you can't stand to read…"

Yura pushed him lightly on the arm.

He smiled but kept his eyes on the screen.

* * *

By-the-by, The Boy with the Face Eating Tumor is an actual medical documentary I saw when I was younger. Every Wednesday a television network called TLC would show 1 hour (or sometimes 2 hours) program of people from around the world with various rare conditions (the girl with multiple limbs is another one). I actually did stay up until 1 in the morning to watch the first one and then went to bed at three, slightly dazed yet content (I had missed it at the earlier time). OK, enough about my weird TV choices: Chapter 12 I will post ASAP.

Love and Peace.


	12. Chapter 12

Nothing says summer weather like writing about the holidays, eh? Kidding. This is the second shortest chapter I have posted so far. If there are any typos, please let me know.

* * *

"The holiest of holidays are those kept by ourselves in silence and apart; The secret anniversaries of the heart."

_~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow~_

* * *

"Yu-chan!" Hunny ran up to hug the girl on the couch tightly.

"Hey Hunny-senpai" she said evenly, burying her nose in his hair, enjoying the soft feathery texture.

"We missed you! The club isn't the same without you around and Kyo-chan was being such a meanie not letting us visit except for that one time." He started

off almost yelling, but ended in grumble, glaring like an angry child who couldn't get what he wanted in Kyouya's direction.

"I missed you too." was all she gave as a response for this little speech. She didn't really take "club nothing being same" comment to heart. They had been

around long before they knew she existed. So she was sure she did not leave much of an impact to be missed to such an extent. If anyone really

missed her, it would probably be Haruhi, who had to do all the tea serving by herself again.

"Happy Holidays Hunny-senpai" she said to get him to stop glaring at Kyouya.

He turned to her, surprised at first, but soon broke into a wide adorable smile.

"Merry Christmas Yu-chan!"

* * *

"Tamaki-senpai! There are too many ornaments over there."

"Oh! Thanks Yura-chan!" Tamaki yelled back, moving to another part of the tree.

The host club had decided to spend Christmas Eve and morning at the Suou's second mansion this year; it was turning out to be a tradition, spending it at one

another's homes. Yura swung her left leg slowly as she observed them decorate a fir tree that was five inches away from touching the momentous ceiling.

'How did they get that into the room? Much less secure the behemoth…'

Her drifting musings were interrupted at the sight of a plate of food brought to her side.

"You didn't eat anything this morning."

"It's fine senpai, I'm not hungry."

"It's not an offer Yura-chan." Kyouya placed the plate further in front of her until she had no choice but to take it.

"Can't I get some cake instead?"

"No."

"Hunny-senpai gets cake."

"Hunny-senpai had breakfast this morning."

"How do you know? You following him around or something?"

Kyouya gave her look to indicate he was done arguing. He then sat down by her to watch Tamaki, Mori, and the twins decorate, but also to make sure Yura

didn't just down three mouthfuls and get one of the others to throw the rest of it away.

"Hey Kyoya! Can you pass me that box of garlands?"

Kyouya discerning the tinsel garlands picked it up and instead of going over, tossed the box to the blonde like it was a football. Tamaki barely managed to

catch them and paused a minute to stare at his friend in shock before opening the box.

Yura had just taken her third mouthful.

"Do you guys do this every year?"

"Since middle school." Kyouya didn't see the need to mention it had been just him and Tamaki in those years.

"So I guess Tamaki-senpai believes in Santa Clause, huh?" she joked.

"And you don't?"

"Nope, really don't believe in celebrating Christmas actually. I just watch specials on TV and get some cake that's on sale at the store."

He turned to see her bored expression.

"So you believe in God?"

"Yup."

"That His son was born on this earth?"

"Yup."

"But you don't believe in celebrating Christmas?"

"_Not a whit._"

He was becoming more and more bemused about this girl as time went on.

"May I ask why?"

She shrugged, taking another mouthful and was about to place the plate on the table until she was stopped by Kyouya. Apparently four mouthfuls of food

wasn't going to cut it.

She heaved a sigh.

"It's just…don't you think it must have been cold, if it was December, for shepherds to be out there watching sheep? Would there even be grass on the

ground? And no one knew Jesus was born but them and the wise men, so how are they so sure it was on the twenty-fifth anyway." She explained, her voice

picking up in speed and energy as she went on. She turned to Kyouya as she ended to see his face.

"I'm taking this too seriously, aren't I?"

"Yes. Yes you are."

She put the fork in her mouth before resting the half empty plate on her lap, crossing her arms and pursed her lips as she chewed.

Kyouya let out something between a gasp and almost a breath of laughter as he leaned back into the couch.

* * *

"_Screw you guys and your skimpy outfits six times__ over._ I am not wearing that." Yura was speaking for Haruhi as well, who was beside her, nodding her head.

The twins pouted with exaggeration as they each held up a Santa outfit for them: complete with a Santa hat, red vests with fluffy white balls for buttons, and a

mini skirt with the white trim and long black leather boots.

"Aw, come on Yura-chan!"

"No! _Now begone and leave my soul be_."

"Scrooge."

"_Bah. Humbug._" She gave emphasis to each word, sipping the egg nog she had taken out of Haruhi's hands before handing it back to her.

"What do you have against dresses?"

"I have nothing against dresses. I just refuse to wear those."

"But we've never seen you in a dress."

"The pension…nightgown…"

"That doesn't count."

"Whatever."

"Don't you like Christmas Yura-chan?" Tamaki asked, placing a Santa hat on Kyouya, much to his annoyance, though he didn't remove it.

"It's just there…" she didn't want to go back into that discussion. "Like Halloween and stuff, I just…don't care."

The whole atmosphere seemed to dampen at this confession. Yura felt a bit guilty as she saw the excitement that had been the twins, Tamaki, and Hunny eyes

vanish, they looked so sad and disappointed. She scratched the back of her head roughly, taking some hair out of the fancy French roll the twins had put in.

"Look, you guys, I don't mind….going along with…with whatever you have planned. I'll have fun….I guess…even if I don't…you know…" she felt that if she said

care again, her little attempt at apologizing would be for naught.

"We thought you'd be happy to celebrate Christmas. Haruhi doesn't let us buy her a present so-"

"Why would all of you buy her presents?"

"Because we don't Haruhi to use what little money she has buying us stuff when we can afford at least thirty times as much."

Haruhi glared at Hikaru while Yura shook her head at all of them. Both she and Haruhi shared the thought if it was a skill to be this rude.

"Why don't you guys just have a secret Santa then?"

"What's secret Santa?"

'These guys are some intriguing souls…'

She explained, at a pace that Haruhi was sure if it had been any other group of people they would have felt very insulted. When she finished she turned to

Haruhi.

"That ok with you?"

Haruhi nodded. It seemed alright if everyone was going to give a gift to each other instead trying to pile her house high with expense things she didn't

need…or want.

"Good. You guys can do that next year."

"You too Yu-chan. You'll be in the secret Santa with us." Hunny-senpai said imploringly, grabbing her hand and looking into her face with an expression that

would put Bambi to shame.

"Sure Hunny-senpai" she said, unaffected by his look because she wasn't looking at his face, but some place to the left.

'If I live that long…'

"Good now that that's settled, time for carols!" Tamaki exclaimed, taking a set of song books from behind him. Yura was close to busting out laughing in their

faces. Tamaki had even somehow gotten Kyouya up off the couch and had his best friend sharing a song book with him, begrudgingly of course. Kyouya looked

he wanted nothing more than to punch his friend's lights out. By the time they were on their tenth song, Yura felt her spleen had ruptured.

"We wish you a Merry Christmas, We wish you Merry Christmas, We wish you Merry Christmas…"

They stopped singing, looking at her expectantly.

"_And a Happy New Year._"

Yura blinked rapidly. The last line had been sung in a countertenor voice and came from behind her. She sunk her pinky in her ear before turning around,

thinking the holding spray the twins had put in her hair had some hallucinating agent in it. Her eyes grew to the size of Hunny's and her hand fell from her ears.

She quickly got up off the couch, keeping her eyes trained on the figure by the door.

"…Yuki…"

"Happy Holidays, Yura" her brother smiled, slowly walking towards her.

"Merry Christmas Yura-chan." She turned back to see everyone smiling, even Haruhi and Mori.

She wheeled around to see her brother approaching faster, his arms stretched out and tears forming in his eyes. She walked as fast as she could with the

crutches before tossing them away from her with impatience and minor agitation and closing the short gap between them in a few limps. He caught her by her

round cheeks and placed kisses all over her face before squeezing her.

"I'm so glad to see you" he whispered. Yura detected the relief in his tone, in addition to the pure cheer.

"Mm. I missed you." She admitted quietly, pressing her cheek to Yuki's.

Her brother smiled in delight, giving her one last squeeze before letting her go.

She went back over to the others, smiling with a joyful slightly amused glee. Her sharp teeth peeked out as she broke into wider smile, curtailing it by drawing

in her lips, her cheeks flushed all the while.

"You guys…"

"It was Tamaki's idea." Kyouya said pushing up his glasses. He had only been informed about the president's plan yesterday. He was surprised to see Tamaki

and the twins pull off something on their own so flawlessly. Yura hopped on one foot over to Tamaki and wrapped her arms around him, to the surprise of

everyone in the room. She was so happy, she didn't care.

"Hey! What about us?" the twins whined, crossing their arms, "we helped bring him here."

She gave a little giggle as she hugged them both by the neck. They had to practically catch her; she had been so close to falling. Yuki came over with her

crutches, greeting them all at once. Yura took them. The smile on her face didn't seem to want to leave and everyone was thrilled to see the little scrooge, so

disinterested not too long ago, so jubilant.

* * *

"Are you sure you're ok?" Yuki asked for the fourth time as he watched his sister limp heavily around the guest room Tamaki had prepared for them. They had

been talking for hours now, switching to English from time to time.

"Yes Yuki, I am." She leaped unto the mattress, letting out a sigh, glad to have gotten through her nightly routine without the crutches.

"You shouldn't do that so much."

"The bone's healed already Yuki. I just need to drill stamina back into it again."

"Well, be careful of how much 'stamina' you drill in all at once." He said in a half-cautious tone, grabbing her hand to pull it her closer. He paused though,

putting her hand to his cheek.

"_Your hands are always so cold!_"

"Can't do much about that." She left herself be pulled, barely crawling closer. They settled under the sheets of the huge bed, facing each other. Yuki refuse to

let go of her hand and, quite frankly, Yura didn't mind. They laid there staring at one other, study the other's features after having been apart so long.

"How have you been?"

"Fine Yuki,_ but you've asked me that before._"

"_I'm serious._"

"So you were asking me in jest before?"

"Yura."

"I know you are." She sighed out, wishing he wouldn't look like that.

"Do you remember? Are you su-"

"Yes, Yuki I am sure. If I remembered what happened I would have told you already." Her face became etched with despair and she looked at his collarbone to

avoid his eyes. "No matter how much I wouldn't want to…"

Yuki gave a sad smile, brushing back his sister's hair and taking off her glasses, placing them on the head board's flat surface.

"Sleep" he kissed her forehead, "_I can sing something for you._"

"No, its fine Yuki, go to sleep." Though he was trying his best to hide it, she could see her brother was fighting to stay awake now. He lied back down.

"You know if it wasn't for them, I probably wouldn't have been able to make it today." He yawned and snuggled into the sheets, putting their entwined hands

under the blanket.

"You've…" he yawned again, "you've gone and made some…good friends, eh…?" he said as he dozed. Yura stared at him as he slept.

"Yes. Yes I have."

* * *

Cybercookie to whoever knows where the last line is from. I just love that phrase. I will try to get chapter thirteen up by tomorrow.

Love and Peace.


	13. Chapter 13

Ok, I'm just going to stop saying when I'm going to try to post unless I'm absolutely positive because I do not want to get people's hopes up and then have them burn into the ground of disappointment. I hate when that happens to me so I can fairly imagine how others must feel.

On another note: The story now has over a 1,000 views! Yay! Thank you to all who have been reading so far!

* * *

"Even as your body betrays you, your mind denies it."

~Sara Gruen~

* * *

Kyouya walked along the halls of Ouran to the club room and saw ahead of him a small boy, seemingly a first year. He took in the ponytail and bowed left leg

before halting in his steps, remaining that way until they turned the corner.

'She should not be here' he thought with vexation as he resumed walking, heading straight instead of turning. He knew another way to the club room. After

Chirstmas, Yura returned home with her brother, Yuki coming over to pick up her things from his house a few days later. What had him in such a foul mood

wasn't her departure, but that once New Years had ended, Kyouya, Tamaki, Hunny, and Mori were greeted with startled twins who told them in hurried,

discordant phrases that Yura had come to school. He knew she was still going to physical therapy and had only yet switched her cast for a brace. She couldn't

get very far without the crutches, unless she wore herself out trudging through weariness on sheer will power. Yet she came to club, no crutches and no

outward signs of fatigue as she walked. To everyone else at least. What he was aggravated about was her obstinacy. He told her plainly yesterday she should

be at home, adjusting herself and not walking such far distances all at once, to which she gave a placid smile and only said:

"_Each to his own._"

If anyone had observed his actions just now, they would say he was avoiding her. But at that moment, he was so pissed off at her that he didn't trust what he

might say if he met up with her. Seeing her limping so heavily now she thought no one around did not in any way help his mood either. So for now, he would

stay clear of her. He reasoned that it was concern and that alone that made him so exasperated to see her being so heedless. He also told himself he was

interacting with her as little as possible lately to spare her feelings, when in actuality it was more for his own feelings than the possible chance of hurting hers.

* * *

"Yura?"

"Hm?"

"Can…can I talk to you?"

Yura looked up from the notebook she had been copying notes from into Haruhi's face, which showed obvious signs of discomfort. She pursued her lips before

nodding.

"Yeah sure, what's up?"

They were in one of the many libraries for a free period before club began. Yura had found a snug, quiet, secluded nook with a square table and a few chairs

resided on the second floor. It was also where she had been having lunch now the weather was cold, but she brought Haruhi with her today since the twins

insisted on being more pest than usual.

"Um, well…I…I kinda…it…it's about Tamaki-senpai…" Yura's face expressed no change, though she was mentally smiling now. She feigned ignorance as she

asked: "What about him?"

"I…I don't why, but lately…I feel nervous around him a-and when he tries to hug me or get to close I panic! My face gets hot and I feel really nervous and

shaky. I thought at first maybe it was a cold but I realized…it only happens when I'm around him…"she put a fist to her mouth, a deeper blush creeping into her

cheeks just thinking about it.

Yura's mental smile was now on her face.

'Should I explain slowly or just tell her outright…' she shrugged after a while, confusing Haruhi. 'Well she's blunt herself so…"

"Tamaki-senpai maybe the cause, but the reason lies with your feelings."

"What do you mean?" Haruhi asked, both frightened and hopeful that Yura would be able to help her.

"You're in love with him."

An empty quietness followed. Yura was sure if she didn't hear her own heartbeat she would have thought she had gone deaf.

"WHAT?!"

"Shhhhhhhhhhh…."

Yura went over to Haruhi with her chair in tow, pulling Haruhi back down into her own seat by the arm, and moving behind her to massage her shoulders.

'Blunt was not the way to go…'

"I-I'm"

"Yes Haruhi."

"B-but h-how…how do you know?"

Yura pulled out a manga out of her bag and handed it to her.

"High School Debut?"

She nodded. "Just read this part." She said, putting her long nail into a section of the manga. Haruhi opened where her fingernail was and read attentively,

looking horrified as she finished.

"No way…"

"_Yes way, my dear friend._"

"B-but how? Why?!"

"_I cannot fix on the hour, or the spot, or the look, or the words, which laid the foundation…I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun._"

"Yura…" Haruhi groaned, not in the mood for Yura's literature quoting.

"Sorry, sorry" she patted her on the back as Haruhi hid her face in her hands, "If I really knew the answer to those questions, I wouldn't be wasting my time

here in high school."

Haruhi looked at her, despair the only word Yura could use for her expression.

"What am I gonna do?"

"Well…you could start by making him chocolates for Valentine's Day I guess…" Yura half mumbled in thought aloud, putting a finger to her chin.

"Making him chocolates?! How is that going to make these feelings go away?!"

"You want them to go away?"

"Yes!"

"Why?"

"Why?! Because…because…because it's Tamaki-senpai!"

Yura shrugged. "So? I know it may seem bad now Haruhi, but actually…you could do a lot worse."

Hauruhi's mouth fell agape in consternation as she stared at Yura. She wanted her to…deepen these…these…feelings for him?!

"I mean, they say you only fall in love once."

'Or something like that…' she cringed inwardly at the generic phrase that just came out of her mouth, "and again it could be worse."

"How?" Haruhi asked weakly, with a hint of skepticism.

Yura scratched her head for a moment, thinking. She gave a half-shrug and began cracking her knuckles one at a time.

"You could be in love with Kyouya-senpai."

Haruhi paled.

"That is true…"

Yura gave a little laugh.

"Yura?"

"Hm?"

"…you read manga like that?"

"Yeah. What? You thought I only read about fights and handsome guys in suits?"

Haruhi focused her eyes on the red carpet, not sure how to respond to that. She looked back up, deciding to take another risk.

"Yura."

"Yea?"

"…Have you ever been in love?"

"…Can't say that I have in the past, but the way you looked, talking about Tamaki-senpai, did remind me of Luka."

"Luka?"

"My ex-girlfriend."

Haruhi blinked. "You had a girlfriend? So then you're gay?"

"Hmmm….I would have to say bi-curious at this point. I like guys too."

"Oh." Haruhi wasn't the least bit fazed, just surprised at the fact Yura had actually dated. She seemed so reserved when they met.

"So…you've liked a guy before?"

Yura nodded.

"…Who?"

Yura coughed and dropped her head, quiet for some minutes. She sighed.

'She told me, so I suppose…'

"Mori-senpai."

Haruhi eyes grew wider.

"Really?"

"Yeah…guess I was a sucker for the strong silent type…" she gave a weak laugh.

"But you don't anymore…"

"No, it was just an infatuation. I'm over it now."

'Like I hope I will be this of one too…'

* * *

Kyouya's cell phone echoed throughout the empty club room. He answered it, a little annoyed at being interrupted.

"Hello?"

"Ah, good afternoon Ootori-san! I hope I'm not bothering you."

"Good afternoon Komatsu-san. What is it?" he asked with polite patience, putting his laptop to sleep.

Ever since the accident, he and Yuki had been having weekly phone conversations: Kyouya to inform him of his sister's condition while Yuki gave him

information that proved useful, such as the other food allergies Yura had failed to mention during the whole time she had stayed over.

"Shrimp, crab, cashews, milk anddd….Am I forgetting anything…? Oh! Other shellfish, like clams and stuff like that."

Kyouya had stopped writing halfway through.

"Do you have all these allergies as well, Komatsu-san?"

"Nope. I can eat strawberries, milk, and cashews; the shellfish yeah and its peanuts and cherries for me. Though milk might not really be an allergy though, she

eats cakes and other pastries that have been made with milk without problems" Kyouya at that point realized why she was so hesitant about eating things

she wasn't familiar with. Or even eating in general to an extent. He gazed out of his window, silence into awe for a few moments.

"I see."

Since then, though they weren't weekly anymore, the two still contacted one another, only now Yuki would be asking how she was doing in school, to which

Kyouya couldn't reply in detail, seeing as he was being angry with her and all. He asked Yuki if he wasn't aware of his sister's plans of coming to school so

soon. He had protested of course, even threatened to take away her brace if she went. But before he knew it, she had taken it off and hid it somewhere in the

house. The next day, Yuki rose up early with the intention of turning the place upside down to find it, only to find she was gone.

"I would have better luck teaching a donkey to juggle." Yuki groaned.

Kyouya could understand that much.

"You're upset with her aren't you?"

He blinked in surprise and remained silent for some minutes.

"What makes you think that, Komatsu-san?"

"The vague way you just described how she's doing. Either she hasn't been around you much or you just made that little report up to make me feel better."

Yuki explained, his lighthearted tone strong throughout.

Kyouya kept quiet, irked to have been caught so easily.

'What is it with me lately?'

"I know she can be a bit infuriating sometimes Ootori-san, but I assure you, she isn't doing it to hurt anyone on purpose. Once she thinks something is right or

OK it takes some good hard evidence to make her think contrary. Just…try to be patient with her. She's a good child, despite her pack-mule ways."

Kyouya forgot for a brief moment that it was a thirteen year old talking to him. These fraternal twins were frightening little creatures. But still highly intriguing.

"I'll keep that in mind." He responded in his habitual tone, pushing up his glasses.

"I'm glad. By the way, did you know about our birthday? I was expecting Yura to come home on the twentieth with a hoard of cards or something from you

guys."

"…Oh yes, you're both fourteen now aren't you?"

"Yup! She didn't seem to care too much though. Until she saw the cake I bought."

Kyouya smiled faintly.

"What is it with your sister and cake anyway?"

"She has a sweet tooth and won't admit it." He sighed "She's lucky I'm such a nice brother. When I was her age, I was never so ungrateful and in denial."

"You're twins Komatsu-san" Kyouya went along with his nonsense only now and then.

He chuckled.

"Well, I won't take up anymore of your precious time Ootori-san. I'll call you again soon."

"It was time well spent." He meant it, though he secretly hoped Yuki just took the phrase for pure politeness. "Goodbye Komatsu-san."

And he hung up, feeling a little better than he had in the past few weeks.

* * *

Yura stood at the door of the third music room, pretending to inspect and clean her nails for the fourth time. She kept straining her hearing to catch the

footsteps of one of the others so she could go in with them. She didn't want to go in alone.

Not now.

Yura had noticed something akin to Kyouya's avoidance, but she took it at first as him simply needing time alone. She could very well sympathize with him

there. There were times when even she kept to herself when Yuki was around, her private lunch nook in the library also provided her need for solitude when

she could have easily just eat in the classroom with Haruhi. But now on the first day of February, Yura felt like perhaps Kyouya was ignoring her for other

reasons. She wasn't sure what they were, though she had theories. What she really didn't want was to have it made valid by him evading her directly. So she

made sure he got no such opportunity. Until now. She had come to the club room too early and as she was about to open the door, she realized that it

probably wouldn't be empty. Kyouya was the one who opened the door so he would obviously be the first one to arrive.

She put her ears to the door, trying to discern any sound within. She heard nothing, mostly to the door being so thick. She didn't want to risk opening it either

because no matter how slowly she opened the thing, it made noise.

'You think this being an affluent school they would oil the hinges or something.' She thought, peeved at the door and her cowardice too. Though it was mostly

directed at the door. After standing there for twenty minutes, feeling like an idiot, she took a deep breath and decided to just go in.

'Que sera sera…' and with that in mind she turned the handle.

To find that it was locked and wouldn't budge. Her mouth fell open and she stared at the handle, trying it again. She covered her eyes before smacking herself

in the forehead.

"Well, I feel stupid now."

"What are you doing?"

She was startled and turned, slipping into a random fighting pose Mori had shown her out of reflex. Kyouya raised his eyebrows at her stance.

"You're going to attack me for asking you a question?"

Yura gave a short bark of laughter as a heavy feeling settled in her stomach. She abandoned the fighting position.

"Oh. Hey, Kyouya-senpai. Sorry about that…you frightened me, that's all."

"I apologize then, that wasn't my intention." He said in a disinterested tone, putting the key in the lock and holding open the door for her. She continued to

scrutinize him as he did all of this, so she became a bit jumpy when she realized why he wasn't going in. There was lone table in the middle of the room and

she wondered if she should sit with him.

'Maybe the past three weeks was my imagination…?' she thought as she hesitantly dragged over a chair to the table he was placing his laptop on.

"Do you need help?"

That was not what she was anticipating.

"...No, it's alright I got it."

When she was settled and taking out her sketchbook, she heard him clear his throat. Out of reflex, she looked up.

"How is your leg?"

"Uh, fine." She was confused now, but went on, "the doctor said I can have the brace removed by next week."

"Is that so?"

"Mhm."

The silence became awkward and Yura asked a question she would have probably not asked otherwise.

"You're not upset with me are you? For coming to school?"

"I'm pretty sure I made it clear that it was too early for you to be here a few weeks ago." He replied, a slight touch of anger creeping into his voice.

'So that's why…'

"But nothing happened. My leg is pretty much back to normal. It would most likely have taken longer if I stayed put, limping around my house-"

"Better for it to have taken awhile and let it heal properly, than risk making it worse by over-exerting yourself." He countered anger evident now in face as well.

Yura didn't pay much heed to his distemper, but to his words.

"You…were…worried about me?"

He gave her a hard, narrowed look before continuing to type.

The corner of her mouth twitched, but she lowered her head into her sketchbook instead. As she thought about more, she regretted having asked him that.

Yura had a loose idea of the boundaries Kyouya had and when not to cross them. She felt she had just crashed right into one with the question about him

being concerned. She was debating whether or not she should apologize when Tamaki came into the room, raving about how he had a marvelous idea for

themes this week. He stopped mid-rant to notice Yura, who made no inclination to greet him seeing as he was on one of those "highs", as she mentally

dubbed them.

"Why hello my precious little dear! How have you been?" Yura felt her hair stand on end and she clenched her teeth as Tamaki patted her head, his smile

blinding her. She was beginning to heavily regret hugging him at Christmas. It seemed to have been taken as an unspoken ok signal that showering her with

affection was alright. She bore through most of it, hoping his attention would soon ebb. But if he ever glomped or call her 'daughter' like he did to Haruhi, she

was going to bite him and bite him hard.

She knew his intentions were pure and that he meant well, but Yura wished her blonde senpai would find a more subdued way of expressing his friendship,

especially with her.

'Or maybe I should tell him Haruhi wouldn't like it…' she smirked with a bit of malicious glee, imagining his face. She felt and knew she couldn't do it though,

despite the humor it would bring. 'The poor guy would probably go into shock.' She chuckled into her hand as quietly as she could.

"What's so funny Yura-chan?" Tamaki asked innocently, a bit confounded at seeing his kohai suddenly begin to laugh.

"It's nothing, just my ideas battling a little with my morality." She said absently, continuing to draw and unmindful of the concerned looks exchanged between

the second years.

* * *

Now, for convenience's sake, Yura and Yuki are the only two who have aged a year, everyone else remains the same age. Also for anyone confused, a week had past after Yuki's phone conversation with Kyouya, bringing them into February. Sorry if that wasn't clear. Will post next chapter ASAP!

Love and Peace.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14 about the special 14ths! (If that made no sense, I apologize. You'll get my poor attempt at a joke once you read the chapter)

* * *

"All you need is love. But a little chocolate now and then doesn't hurt."

~Charles M. Schulz~

* * *

"Hey Haruhi, do I put the chocolate in now?" Yura asked, quickly tapping the silver bowl that rested on the pot of boiling water.

Haruhi came over and placed a chocolate chip on it, watching as it formed into a little puddle.

"Yes it's ready."

Yura poured in the two cups of chocolate.

"When can I add the maple syrup?"

"You have to mix the syrup with some cream first, add it once the chocolate has completely melted. Is that batch for the twins?"

"Yup."

As Yura patiently waited for the chocolate to melt, Haruhi went about making lunch for the both of them. She felt a bit guilty, messing up Yura's kitchen like this.

Though Yura was the one who asked her to teach her how make homemade chocolate, Haruhi was the one who suggested they go to her house. Yura even

insisted on paying for the groceries. Haruhi's hand slowed.

"Something wrong?"

"Are you sure we should be doing this? Making chocolate I mean."

"Should we be eating then?"

Haruhi shook her head.

"No, I mean why chocolate on Valentine's Day? I didn't give them anything last year."

"Yea well, you weren't in love with Suou Tamaki-senpai last year."

Haruhi barely caught the bottle of cooking oil she had taken out of the cupboard. She glared at Yura, her face red and eyes twitching.

"Hehe, sorry…"

"I wish you would stop saying that."

"You have to get used to it eventually."

Haruhi flinched and bore a nervous warning looking into Yura's back before continuing her cooking. Teaching Yura proved much easier than she expected, all

she had to do was talk and Yura did the rest. Soon she was pouring various flavored melted chocolate into molds she bought with the groceries. Haruhi smiled

as they switched now: Yura made sure their lunch wouldn't burn while Haruhi placed chocolate in her own molds.

"You're a lot eaiser to teach than Renge-chan."

Yura turned while still stirring the stew.

"You mean that light auburn haired girl who makes doujinshis and stories for the club? When did you teach how her to cook?"

"When she was in love with Kyouya-senpai because he looked like a character from her favorite video game."

Yura stopped stirring.

"She..what?"

Haruhi giggle at Yura's face and told her the whole story. By the time she was done, Yura was made a resolve to avoid Renge more than she already did. They

both laughed now.

"…D-do you think he'll like it?"

It took a couple of seconds for Yura to realize what Haruhi was referring to.

"Haruhi," she went over to her and hugged by the shoulder. "you could put a stone in a pot of hot water, add some salt to it and Tamaki-senpai would drink it

willingly and without fail."

"You're exaggerating Yura."

"I wish I could say I was."

She went back over to the stove.

"But why am I making chocolate for all the guys?"

"Do you want him to find out you have feelings for him now?"

"…N-no…"

"Well, it'll just look like your giving chocolate to them all as friends."

"Then why are you making them chocolate?"

"So they don't terrorize me about how they got chocolate from you and not me."

Haruhi noticed Yura began cracking her thumb knuckles. She had been doing that a lot lately.

* * *

"Is this-?"

"Yes it is."

"For us?"

"Yes for you two."

The twins looked down in awe once again at the two little orange and light blue rectangular boxes in their hands before looking back up into the givers' faces

(actually it was one of the giver's faces now, Yura had gone to sit down). They looked at each other, the wide eyed shock in perfect symmetry.

"B-but why?"

"If you guys don't want them, we can take them back you know?" Yura said, rising out of her chair, pretending to get up to take her chocolate out of their

cupped palms. The twins hid them behind their backs and ended up pressed against the wall in the back of the classroom. Luckily it was only the four of them in

the room at the time. Yura suggested to Haruhi that they give them their chocolate as early as possible, knowing how the girls in their class might take it to see

to young 'boys' giving other boys chocolate.

"No! We want them!" they yelled in unison, a slight coloring on their faces.

Yura sat back down. Haruhi got to her seat, sighing at the prospect of having to go through something like this more than once later today.

* * *

"Yo, Tamaki-senpai!"

Tamaki paused in going into the music room as he heard his name called. He then dived and nearly dropped the white box tossed to him. Yura mentally berated

herself for her bad aim for his hands as she passed by him into the room.

"For you. Happy Valentine's Day." She said nonchalantly as she passed, walking in to see Kyouya had stopped his typing to see what the commotion at the

door was about.

"F-for me, Yura-chan?"

"Yes Tamaki-senpai, for you." She turned on her heel and held out her hand as Tamaki had his arms outstretched, about to bull rush her. She pointed

somewhere behind him. He looked to see Haruhi close to the door, blushing and clutching a red rectangle against her chest. Tamaki arms went limp; his face

grew warm as he went up to her.

"H-haruhi?"

"H-he-t-this is for you Tamaki-senpai" Haruhi lowered her eyes as she extended the chocolate in front her. "H-happy Valentine's Day."

Haruhi braced herself to be trapped in a tight hug; she had managed to avoid him for the most part in terms of hugging. Knowing how he reacted when she

was even faintly nice to him, she tried her best to mentally prepare herself.

"T-t-thank you, Haruhi."

She opened her eyes and looked up to see him covering his mouth with his hand, his face completely red. Tamaki felt like his heart had become too big for his

chest. His daughter was giving him chocolate! For Valentine's Day! He took it from her with a shaky hand. Before he could control himself, his lips were pressed

to her forehead. By the time he moved away, they both looked like they had tomatoes for faces.

Yura drew in her lips with her hand folded neatly in front of her.

'Maybe I am a romanticist…' She turned away from the cute scene before her and broke into a wide heartwarming smile; her cheeks flushed and bringing a

somewhat healthy glow to her complexion. She put her fingers on her lips in a poor attempt to hide it, wondering why she felt so giddy.

'Too much shojo manga…'

"You realize you're treading on dangerous territory." Yura's happy mood was spoiled at the low voice behind her, out of ear shot of the lovely couple by the

door.

"What are talking about? I haven't done anything."

"So the thought just suddenly entered Haruhi's head to give Tamaki chocolate?"

"She gave chocolate to me and the twins too."

"And that wasn't of her own choice."

"Yes it was. I just suggested it. It was her own decision whether or not to act according to her own free will."

Kyouya ceased his typing to look at her, raising an eyebrow.

"You honestly think this will work?" he gestured with his head slightly towards Haruhi and Tamaki as he spoke.

"Not only this. It's like the first step," she shrugged looking back at them to see they were talking, though they both look like they were on verge of fainting.

"slow and steady, no?"

Kyouya followed her gaze before giving a reluctant nod, resuming his typing.

"Oh yeah, this is for you." She pulled a black rectangular box out of her bag and held it out to him. Kyouya had stopped typing again and now raised his hands

off the keyboard as he stared at the box in her pale hands. He looked into her face; his glasses glinted, hiding his eyes. She waved it a little, before adding,

"It's dark chocolate." thinking he wasn't taking it because of his indisposition for eating sweets. Kyouya slowly reached for the package, placing it beside his

laptop.

"Thank you" he said quietly.

"No problem." She smiled, not as warmly as before, but it was enough to have him focus on her again. She walked over to a sofa not too far off and sat down,

sighing as she clenched her slightly quivering hand. She took out her current read and resting her head on a cushion, hid her face behind it.

Haruhi gave her chocolate to Kyouya, which he took with a perfect smile and a graceful thank you. She gave him a wary expression as he placed on the

other side of his laptop.

"Kyouya! You got chocolate from your lovely daughter and Yura-chan! You should be ecstatic!"

"Should I now?"

Tamaki went to his corner of woe, harvesting red mushrooms with miniature hearts on their stems, mumbling about "how mommy could ignore daddy so…"

"He's probably just going to put them up for auction, anyway?"

Everyone turned their heads to the reader reclining on the couch, who was pretending to read.

"Kyouya wouldn't do that…" Tamaki nearly yelled, until he thought about it more. "right, Kyouya?" he asked quietly, his expression inspirited.

"…"

"Kyouya!"

"Told you so."

The demeanor on Kyouya's face as those words passed Yura's lips was enigmatic. Tamaki observed his friend with surprise as Haruhi was trying to silently get

Yura's attention to warn her of possible impending danger. Yura didn't make an inclination to raise her head until she heard the sound of wrapping paper. She

sat up.

Kyouya loosed the purple ribbon and unwrapped the box neatly, desisting for a second on seeing the chocolate in the shape of a rose. He broke off a generous

piece and placed it between his teeth. He seemed to search for Yura's eyes before breaking it and chewing slowly, keeping eye contact all the while. She

unconsciously dropped the book into her lap. He swallowed and then turned to Haruhi, pushing up his glasses.

"The others will be here soon, I suggest you get the tea sets ready."

"Y-yes, ok."

Haruhi took off in a half jog. Tamaki tagged along with her, asking if she needed help. Yura unsteadily lied back down, reading with such a speed that she

wasn't sure about the content after she had reached the next chapter. She pushed the intense feelings away from her thoughts, forcing herself to finally focus

on what she was reading.

* * *

"Hey Kyouya, I was thinking."

"You do such things?"

"I'm serious, Kyouya!" Tamaki glared at his friends before becoming all smiles again. "Why don't we adopt Yura-chan!"

'This idiot is never going to figure out his feelings.'

"Adopt her?"

"Yes! Haruhi could use a little sister."

Kyouya shook his head at the epitome of pathetic denial across from him. Yura appeared next to Tamaki, slightly irritated at having her fear become reality.

"You do realize I'm right here?"

"Yura-chan! What do you say?!"

Hunny and Mori came through the door, last ones to arrive. Yura smirked and lightly ran over to them.

"Sorry Tamaki-senpai, I've already been adopted by the 'neighbors'" she placed her hands behind her back, leaning a bit into Mori's direction but not touching

him.

"That's right Tama-chan!" Hunny climbed off Mori's shoulders and grabbed Yura's hand, surprising her. "Yu-chan is our daughter!" he announced proudly before

giggling. Mori bent down and ruffled Yura's hair as he patted it.

"Ah."

Yura looked between both of them, surprised and softened at the third years' actions. A smile slowly formed and her eyes shined, she squeezed Hunny's hand,

causing him to hug her arm.

'…Why do I feel like crying?' she thought in confusion as her hand touched where Mori had patted.

She quickly tried to get a hold of herself before giving Hunny a pink box and Mori a dark blue one. Hunny grabbed her tightly.

"Thank you Yu-chan!"

Mori bowed in thanks. Yura walked away rapidly, keeping her head down, startled and somewhat frightened by the tingling in her stomach.

* * *

"Seriously? Visual Kei?"

"What? Tamaki said it was fine."

"Do you know how long it's going to take to put make up on 8 people?"

"I'll help if I can."

Hikaru and Kaoru huffed and threw their arms up in frustration. Yura gave an apologetic smile. It was March 14th and with exams being over, the host club

members were free to go all out on theme ideas. Haruhi's ideas had to be disregarded due to most of them being about food. Fortunately, Yura had given her a

Visual Kei picture she printed off the internet to give to Tamaki, who readily agreed, overjoyed to see his beloved daughter taking part in club planning.

So now Yura found herself helping to put on makeup on some of the others while the twins stressed about the clothes. Even just for fun they took their

designing seriously. She opted for putting makeup on Hunny, Mori, and Haruhi; the three most patient and least likely to snap at her if she messed up once or

twice. Or talk during the whole thing.

"No way! You're taking all the calm people!"

"Hunny-senpai isn't calm."

"…You're taking all the easy-going people!"

"Haruhi isn't easygoing."

They spluttered.

"Just pick someone else!"

"Better yet, we'll pick for you." Hikaru added, grabbing his chin in thought.

"I'll take Tamaki-senpai then, since you guys seem to-"

"Kyouya-senpai."

Her hand fell to her side; she rolled her eyes and gave them a look that clearly expressed she thought them nothing but little generates of mischievous evil.

She started with Mori. And had to reapply makeup on him twice, her hand kept shaking just when she needed it to be steady. She knew she was right to

choose him when she saw how his countenance remained unchanged, but she still felt bad about making him sit longer than he had to. Especially when he had

on leather pants in addition to the black and white dress shirt and pink scarf around his neck.

"I'm sorry Mori-senpai. I'll do it right this time I promise. Third time's a charm right?" she joked lamely, giving a strained smile. Mori nodded and placed his large

hand on her head, closing his eyes so she could begin. She smiled, appreciating the little actions of sentiment more than Mori would ever know. She decided to

approach it like she was painting in the art class she was taking for the term. Once in that mindset, she forgot she was even working on a person's face. She

finished Hunny in one go and was getting a new set of brushes when Kyouya walked in, fully dressed. She became fixed on the spot when she saw the outfit.

Actually one piece of the outfit.

Kyouya was wearing a skirt. That was enough to make her stare in amazement. Never mind the pants he wore underneath had gaps at the knees and thighs

or his top, which consisted only of a close fitting pinstripe suit vest with tube sleeves, along with three necklaces, a studded arm band and leather gloves. And

the colors were still either black or white, only a splash of red coming from a long chain earring that hung from his ear.

"You look surprised. Though I can hardly see why, as this was your idea."

Apparently, Kyouya wasn't ecstatic about the skirt.

"It's Haruhi's theme today."

He turned his head after she placed the smock over him.

"Haruhi? And Visual Kei?"

"Ok, alright, I confess. But you better not let Tamaki-senpai know." She threatened as she searched the large make up case for red eye shadow, "It would

break his heart." she joked. He only shrugged; watching as she tapped the excess powder off the small brush before climbing on the stool the twins had

gotten for her, bending close into his face.

"Now close your eyes. If they flutter we'll have to do this all over again." He closed them and Yura got a few clean strokes in before she placed her palm on his

cheek lightly for something to rest on. He flinched and moved his head away by a few centimeters. She sighed in a bit of frustration, Mori and the others had

done the same thing.

Were her hands really so cold?

'_Aaaiya…_'

"Sorry." She was about to go back in, brush in hand, but halted midway as something occurred to her. She shook the thought away, Kyouya growing slightly

worried at her random actions. Yura was unaware of how lost in her thoughts she could get sometimes.

"Are you planning to put the eye shadow on me or decorate the air with it?" he finally asked, watching her make slight up and down strokes with the brush

nowhere near his face.

"Oh, yeah, right, sorry." She said in breaking quick succession before continuing with his makeup. The thought of questioning whether his skin had always been

this smooth she tried to evade by reminding herself that he was a canvas.

'A really smooth canvas…' she moved away from him to gather the duress needed to smack herself in the middle of her forehead, leaving a red mark of her

palm on it as she got back to work. Kyouya eyebrows went into his fringe.

"Yura-chan."

"Hm?"

"Any particular reason you saw the need to hit yourself like that?"

"…It helps me focus."

"Right."

Kyouya was worried now.

Haruhi took a bit more time. Partially due to Yura wasting time. It wasn't easy to even start as her eyes fixed on the black dress Haruhi wore. The sleeves were

long and fanned out as they reached her hand. The skirt was short and pleated while the top half hung off her shoulder and had lace ties going down her front

parallel. That and the baggy socks mostly covering her platform heels made Haruhi a sight to behold. Haruhi obviously was not happy.

"Just hurry up and put the makeup on me please…" she sat down and crossed her arms in the chair, consigning to her fate.

* * *

"Thank you Tamaki-senpai." Yura smiled as she looked down at the fancy intricate design box in hands, her mouth watering at the white chocolate it contained.

"You're welcome, Happy White day." He patted her on the shoulder; lucky for her the attention was finally beginning to fade. She warned herself to be careful

next time.

Hunny bounded up to her and presented pink strawberry-flavored chocolate shaped like Usa-chan. Yura and Mori then had to spend ten minutes trying to

console the little crying senior as he was made acquainted with the fact that he had been a bite away from sending her into antiepileptic shock.

Haruhi was thanking Hikaru and Kaoru for the chocolates; she walked away, thinking she could share them with her dad, when Tamaki stepped in front of her.

He gulped and pulled at his collar and held out a bundle of roses in his hand and a little gift box.

"H-happy White Day."

The twins glowered and were about to interfere when Yura pushed Kaoru out the door Hunny was holding open; Mori grabbing Hikaru with one arm. Their

faces looked as if they had just been betrayed in the heat of war.

"Yura-chan, you-?"

"Meaningless to say it at this point, you guys said you had places to be. Now go, I'll explain tomorrow. They went away, downcast and sad as they looked back

at the third years and first year by the door. When they ventured back inside, they found Tamaki bouncing around, screaming how Haruhi agreed to him giving

her a ride home. That is, until Haruhi remembered something.

"But I should stay awhile to tidy up with Yu-"

"It's ok Haruhi, me, Mori-senpai and Hunny-senpai got it."

She was still hesitant, but Yura convinced her at last by getting Mori and Hunny to play the role of dutiful helpers. Haruhi left and they all sighed.

"How long do you think it'll take before they realize Yu-chan?"

"Not very long" she responded, as she seemed to let a mental reel play in her head before mumbling, "I hope…"

Hunny and Mori left early, leaving Yura to finish up cleaning. When she was done, she fell into the chair by a table, resting her head on the cool mahogany.

Kyouya got up as soon as she sat down; she heard the sound of shoes clicking against marble and raised her head.

He placed a lavender box with a white ribbon beside her. She stared at the box for a while in wonder before it dawned on her what it was for and opened it,

her face lighting up in felicity to see a hoard chocolate truffles dusted in hazel powder, that and the fact that the box was quite deep.

"Thank you, Kyouya-senpai!" she exclaimed as she popped one into her mouth, her face expressing full delight. She made a sound of satisfaction to find truffles

tasted as good she had heard.

Kyouya studied her as she did all of this, smiling and repressing a laugh building up in his throat.

"Do you like them?"

She nodded with excitement. She was about to speak, but stopped herself to swallow before saying, "Yes, they're delicious!"

The slightly startled look relaxed into his habitual expression as he nodded, taking a seat by her and leaning forward a little as she popped three truffles into

her mouth at once. She figured she should save some for later, so she put the lid back on the gift box and tied the ribbon lopsidedly, licking the brown dust off

her fingers.

She caught Kyouya staring and took his unreadable look for disapproval or distaste for her child-like behavior. Yura reached into her blazer pocket for her

handkerchief to meet with nothing but the pocket lining.

'Where's my-?'

"Here, you can use this."

Yura hesitantly took the white handkerchief out of his loose grip. She felt a bit embarrassed, using something that was his to wipe the traces of saliva of her

finger tips, but she couldn't bring herself to refuse. She folded it neatly and rolled it into the ball of her fist.

"I'll return it to you after I wash it."

He nodded, using a slender finger to push up his glasses. They began to pack their things together, Yura unable to shake the feeling that Kyouya seemed to

be in a particularly good mood.

"Yura-chan."

She stopped in mid grab for her notebook and turned to him. He stood by the partially open door. She wondered when he had even gotten there.

"Is this your first time celebrating White Day?"

'….Huh?'

"Uh… yes, it is?"

"I see."

And with that Kyouya put his bag under his arm and walked out of room.

* * *

I couldn't write out all the outfits for everyone this time. I never noticed how many elements Visual Kei clothing had until I had to write them out and they weren't really significant to the story as far as I was going. A sincere thank you I give to Miss Raingo for unwittingly inspiring me with this cosplay idea! So yeah, Chapter 15 on its way!

Love and Peace.


End file.
